PMD: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries Book I
by PlatinumYoshi4000000000
Summary: Full title: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries Book I Palkia and Dialga are in captivity. The world is descending into chaos. And all the while, a boy wakes up to find that he is a Pokemon. A grand tale is about to unfold.
1. Prologue

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Prologue

Darkness.

It consumes the light, allowing evil to stir. If darkness consumes what is righteous and powerful, then what will happen? This is a question that has been asked for centuries, never with an answer. Until one fateful night.

"Come to your senses!" a pokemon plead.

"This isn't right! You're defying ancient laws!" another shouted.

"Put Palkia and Dialga down now!" a third pokemon commanded.

"Silence!" barked the pokemon that held the Time and Space pokemon hostage. "You all try to stop me using your words, but are any of you courageous enough to really stop me?!"

The pokemon all backed away sheepishly.

"That's what I thought." The pokemon gloated in a quiet and smooth tone.

"What are you doing?! Fight him!" Palkia roared.

"Be quiet!" The mysterious pokemon shouted as he punished Palkia with a stinging attack.

The captor of the two pokemon looked into the distance and saw others advancing to the scene. "Well, I'd love to stay and be punished, but I must go!" He said. He then released the binds on Palkia and Dialga, only to replace them with glowing blue chain-link reins. "Palkia, Dialga, I command you! Open the rift!" The two pokemon were reluctant, but they knew they had no choice. Their eyes glowed a fearsome red. The gems on their bodies glowed as well. The fan-like part at Dialga's lower back grew, as did Palkia's wings, and they both roared their infamous and mighty roars at the moon.

A gigantic time-space portal opened up behind them and their kidnapper flew in, the Time and Space pokemon unwillingly following behind.

After a short trip through the rift, the three pokemon appeared through a smaller portal in the sky of a small moonlit town. The mystery pokemon was infuriated. "You fools! This is not our destination!"

Dialga took advantage of the pokemon's lowered gaurd and blind sided him. The pokemon was angered even further by this, and began to charge an attack against Dialga when Palkia shot a ball of powerful energy at his captor.

"That's it!" He said. He pulled on the reins and the pokemon once again opened a portal, this time leading to the correct place. "Now that you've opened the RIGHT portal, I guess it's time to punish you two for that insubordination just now!" He charged a dark purple attack in his mouth and released it on his captives at point blank range. Pieces of this attack rained upon the dark, sleepy town, and crashed into the ground and some buildings. The pokemon grabbed it's now unconscious hostages by the reins and took off into the portal with them, leaving no trace behind, excluding the meteorites from his attack.

The entire town was awakened, and everybody rushed outside. But even with the whole town outside, one boy in particular stayed in his room. He was too amazed by the dark piece of the brilliant attack that had crashed into his room and woken him up, with purple fire still burning at some parts. Unfortunately, this boy did not go outside to join his parents and fellow townsfolk. This young lad was curious. So he went over and touched the meteorite. There was a sudden flash of light, and then a scream that was cut off. The child's parents had heard the scream and noticed he wasn't with them, so they rushed to their house and ran up to their son's room to see if he was okay. But when they got to his room, the boy-and the meteorite-were gone.

* * *

Revised 12-6-09


	2. The Beginning

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 1:

_The Beginning_

"Uungh..."

A young pokemon was waking up. _'What happened?'_ He thought. '_Where am I? What's going on?'_ He opened his eyes and pushed himself upward, looking around, making his surroundings out to be a lush forest. He was apparently in the middle of a small clearing. The trees were not very tall, as he could easily see over them.

"Finally, you're awake!" said a voice from behind the pokemon. Startled, he fell over again, but then regained his composure and directed his attention towards the direction the voice came from. The speaker was a Riolu! A talking Riolu!

"Aaah!" The pokemon screamed and backed away.

"What?" asked another talking pokemon, this time an Aron.

"What do you mean, _What?_ You're a talking pokemon! Pokemon aren't supposed to be able to talk!" The young pokemon said in a very shocked and distressed manner.

"Oh crap, he's delusional." said a Mudkip.

And at that, he passed out.

"Well, that went well." The Riolu sighed. "You know, he may not be delusional. Don't you remember? The news was filled with reports about that inter-dimensional meteor that appeared at this very spot."

The Aron was the next to speak, saying: "Think we should take him back to town and show him to the guildmaster? After all, he's also a-"

"Yes, we should." the Riolu interrupted. "The scenario seems pretty suspicious, not to mention similar. Come on, let's carry him."

And at that, they picked the pokemon up and began the walk.

The young pokemon woke up a while later inside of what seemed to be a small office. The office was filled with many different pokemon, including the talking Mudkip, Aron, and Riolu from before. But the ones that interested him the most were five Pokemon wearing red bandannas around their necks. A Torterra, an Empoleon, an Infernape, a Lopunny, and, sitting in the seat at the desk in the office, a Pikachu. "Ah, he's awake." the Pikachu said.

_'Great, more talking pokemon.'_ The young pokemon thought.

"Hello, my name is Sparky." said the grinning Pikachu. "I am the guildmaster of Summer Town." Sparky then extended his paw to the pokemon, and then pulled him up from the floor.

"Listen, Sparky..." the young pokemon began. "I have no idea what's going on. Where am I? What's happening? Why are pokemon talking?!"

"Just as I suspected." Sparky muttered putting his hands on the desk he was sitting at and glancing at a piece of paperwork that was under his hands. "Tell me young boy, are you a human?"

"What a stupid question!" The pokemon began. "Of course I'm a-" he stopped mid-sentence as he noticed his hands.

They were green.

He had become a Treecko when he touched that meteorite. Unbeknownst to the young Treecko, the central concentration of energy from the evil pokemon's attack was inside of that particular piece, which, much to the Treeko's misfortune, landed in his room.

"I know it's a lot to take in." said Sparky after a few moments of absolute silence. "But I want you to know. You aren't alone."

This confused the Treecko. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I myself befell the same fate many years ago. I regained my memory eventually, but never managed to get back to my original form. I too, am a human." said Sparky. "The truly unfortunate part is, your case is far different. You will have to gradually regain knowledge of your past. I would know from experience that it can't be done quickly."

The young Treecko began to ponder this. Would regaining his memory help him return to his world, in his original form? After another period of silence, this one much longer, a familiar voice sprang up.

"We'll help." said the Riolu from before.

"What?" the Aron and Mudkip asked in unison.

"Yeah. We'll help you regain your memories and return to your world!" he replied, this time in a much more confident and energetic voice. "Join us. We're trying to become an official exploration team here at the guild! We've attempted the initiation test before, but alas, it was to no avail. With you, we might make it. We will make it. I'm Ryo. This is Iron-" he pointed to the Aron, who grunted cockily as a response and smirked, "-and this is Mud." he then directed his paw to the Mudkip, who closed his eyes and smiled. "What's your name?"

It then occurred to the young pokemon that he had forgotten his name.

"I don't remember..." the Treecko said in a sad tone, staring at his now-green feet.

"Wait, how about... Sceps?!" said Ryo excitedly after a few moments of thinking between all of the pokemon in the room.

"Why Sceps?" the young Treecko asked.

"There was once a great explorer named Sceps. He was the first explorer to ever reach master rank without any teammates! He was considered one of the greatest explorers ever, and THE greatest solo explorer! He's retired now, but that doesn't matter. He was named Sceps because he was a Sceptile, and you are the first form in the evolutionary line of a Sceptile." Ryo explained, the excitement in his voice growing with every word.

The Treecko smiled at Ryo and finally said: "Sceps it is then! And I've decided I will go with you! But you said something about a test?"

"Yes." Sparky chimed in after watching the events that unfolded in his office in silence. "You see, a guild is a group of explorers, and there are four different kinds of guilds, known as tiers, each tier more difficult to graduate from than the last. Explorers generally start out at first tier guilds, which are for beginners. There are twenty four of these, and you must be at least a bronze rank exploration team to pass. Just to add for a moment, you get exploration team points from completing our missions, and you gain ranks from normal to bronze to silver to gold to diamond, etcetera, by gaining these points. Anyhoo, back on topic. Above this, there are eight second tier guilds, which require gold rank to pass. There are two elite third tier guilds in which you must acquire super rank to pass, super being the rank right above diamond. And you must be two ranks above super, at hyper rank, you graduate from the one and only fourth tier guild."

"Well, that was a mouthful." Iron muttered.

"Quiet you." said Sparky. "Anyways Sceps, this is a second tier guild. And in order to get a pass from a first tier level and begin here, you must take a test. Completing this test is very difficult for beginning explorers. Mud, Ryo, and Iron have failed this twice before."

"Hey, icks-nay on the ail-fay!" said Mud.

"Iet-quay." retaliated Sparky. "Now, this is the challenge. You see, there are these areas known as Mystery Dungeons. They are difficult, maze-like places with several floors that need to be conquered one at a time. All of our missions take place in Mystery Dungeons, as those are the duties of an explorer. There are items, traps,money, and all sorts of things to help or hurt you in mystery dungeons. But always be alert, as hostile pokemon lurk in every corner, as they have been angered by the certain natural imbalances that create mystery dungeons. Besides this though, what is truly most curious about Mystery Dungeons is the fact that the floors change every single time you enter one. But anyways, do you accept the test?"

"We accept." said Ryo with a smile."

"Good!" Sparky exclaimed. "Sceps, the test is to go to the Mystery Dungeon known as The Petrified Forest, and to defeat the criminal Muk that is hiding there, then bringing him to custody. Hopefully with this new addition to your team, you can pass."

"Then what the hell are we waiting here for?" Ryo said eagerly. "Let's go!"

* * *

Revised 12-14-09


	3. Muk and The Petrified Forest

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 2:

_Muk and The Petrified Forest_

"So this is The Petrified Forest?" asked Sceps.

"Yes, we've just entered the forest. From this point on, we're in a Mystery Dungeon." replied Iron.

"And how many floors?" Sceps asked.

"Nine floors. We face Muk on the 9th." Ryo answered, with a hint of worry at the end.

"Anyways, what are your moves, Sceps?" asked Mud, deliberately changing the subject. "Even though you were a human, as a pokemon, your moves should be embedded in your mind."

"Pound and Leer." Sceps answered. "Wow, they really are in my mind!"

"Wow, you're already getting used to being a pokemon!" Iron expclaimed happily, before he stopped dead in his tracks. "Crap, we've got a situation here."

"Why? It's just a Wrumple." said Sceps.

"Don't you remember what the guildmaster said?" Ryo asked. "Hostile pokemon lurk in every corner. This is because of all the natural disturbances that have been going on. And this Wrumple is a fine example of these hostile pokemon."

The Wrumple growled for a moment before pouncing at the group.

"And that was a fine example of a hostile pokemon's Tackle attack..." Ryo said with disdain.

"I got this one!" Iron said before taking a battle stance, his icy blue eyes glaring into the Wrumple's yellow. Iron rushed towards the Wrumple with a fearsome Tackle. The Wrumple stood it's ground, but still ended up taking the full force of the attack. Then, as Iron was charging at his opponent once more, the Wrumple caught him by surprise. Iron was soon stopped mid-attack by the sticky web that was String Shot.

Sceps, however, took advantage of the lowered guard of the Wrumple. He ran by Iron and Pounded the distracted Wrumple straight on the head. The Wrumple said its name tiredly before falling to the ground, unconscious.

"Well, that was irritating, to say the least." Mud said as he lead Iron over to a Wonder Tile, which immediately got rid of the String Shot residue.

"Hey, at least something good came out of it." Sceps said as his picked up and examined the Oran Berry that the Wrumple had dropped upon it's defeat.

"Speaking of something good..." Ryo began. "There's the stairs! Come on, we've got to go to Floor 2!"

Floor 5 was when they got in serious trouble. They were surrounded by a Wrumple and two Weedles.

"Ow!" Sceps yelped as he plucked the Poison Sting dart out of his left shoulder.

"Hmm..." Ryo thought aloud. "I didn't want to have to use this yet, but I guess I have no choice." Ryo then reached into a small bag tied to his ankle and pulled out a light blue, glass-like ball. The sphere clutched in his hand began to glow, and then the four pokemon disappeared.

The group then reappeared in midair, and fell straight to the ground.

"Dammit, my head!" Iron cursed as he tried to rub his head where he landed.

"What in the world just happened?" asked Sceps.

"I used a Warp Orb that I was saving." Ryo answered.

"Orb?" Sceps uttered in bewilderment.

"You see Sceps, there are items known as Orbs that have special uses, Although I used my Warp Orb creatively. The Orb is supposed to warp a single target to a different area on the floor, but I, at the cost of a little power, reversed the affects and warped all four of us instead of just myself. And what a place we were teleported to!" Ryo declared as he saw three separate stacks of yellow coins on the ground.

"Umm... Ryo, why are you looting the forest?" asked Sceps.

"Well, Sceps..." he began, not taking his eyes off of the money he was taking. "This is Poke, the currency in our world. As an accessory to the chaos of Mystery Dungeon, not only items are scattered about, but Poke as well. Any explorer going through a Mystery Dungeon is allowed to pick up any items or Poke that lie on the ground."

"But we're not officially explorers yet!" declared Sceps.

"Don't point out that fact. It makes things less fun." he replied.

At the 7th floor, Sceps finally asked.

"Why do they call it The Petrified Forest? It just seems like a regular forest to me, take away the fact that it's a Mystery Dungeon."

"Simple." said Mud. "Just tell me Sceps, have you felt any wind at all since we arrived?"

It then occurred to him. The wind had completely stopped in this place. It was known as petrified because the trees never moved. Not even the slightest breeze was felt here.

"Quite a number of Mystery Dungeons get their names from their own natural imbalance." Iron said. "You'll probably notice that as we go along."

At the 8th floor, Ryo had just defeated a Weedle with his Quick Attack technique when he noticed the stairs and gulped.

"Here it is... above this set of stairs, we face Muk." Ryo said, shuddering.

_'Throughout the entire dungeon, Ryo had been so relaxed and collected... If he's this worried now. Then we're really up against a strong force...' _Sceps thought.

Ryo silently lead the way up the stairs.

They were now in the area known as Petrified Forest Clearing. Standing at the end of the clearing was a strong-looking Muk with a cold, hard smile on his face. His appearance could be described as only a huge pile of purple sludge with a big, intoxicated and threatening looking face on it, accompanied by two karge and powerful arms.

"Well, you little wimps decided to try to beat me again." Muk said smugly. "Ah, and you brought a friend! Tell me little punk, what's your name?"

"M-my name is S-Sceps!" Sceps answered, terrified. He could tell this pokemon was much stronger than the other pokemon they faced in the dungeon.

"Well, I guess third time's the charm." Muk said. "Bring it on!"

At that, Ryo rushed straight at Muk. He was using Quick Attack. But Muk was quicker than he looked, and blocked Ryo's attack with his arm, which he then pushed forward with such force that Ryo went flying back at least ten feet. Muk used Fling.

"Ha, is that all you've got?" taunted Muk. Then he noticed that Iron, Sceps, and Mud were all out of his sight. He then felt a sharp pain in his back as Mud and Iron tackled him simultaneously in the back. "Urk!" he uttered in pain. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Sceps appeared and Pounded him in the stomach as he landed.

"Dammit!" Muk yelled as Sceps took his fist from his stomach and let him fall. "Looks like I really will have to try this time!"

Muk picked himself up from the ground and Sceps braced himself for a hit. But then, Muk did something that Sceps wasn't expecting. He turned around, and glared straight at Mud ad Iron. After enjoying the fear in their eyes for a moment, he used his powerful arm to knock them both backwards. Like Sceps, Muk could use the move Pound.

Then, Muk approached Mud and Iron. He was about to administer the blow that would knock them both out when a powerful kick hit him right in the back of the head. Ryo had managed to get up and use Quick Attack once more.

"Gah!" Muk sputtered. "You annoying little punk!" Muk quickly turned to Ryo with his mouth wide open as he shot out a Sludge attack at the Riolu.

As Sceps watched Ryo get hit by the blast of sludge, he heard Muk say to him: "You're the worst, little punk! I was saving this move for a real team, but you guys have crossed the line! Behold, my Sludge Bomb!" and at that, Muk opened his mouth once more, and shot an enormous blast of sludge at Sceps, this one much bigger than the one before.

Sceps was carried at least twenty or so feet by the monstrous attack. His head smashed against a tree with a sickening crack. Muk began to laugh.

"Hahahahaha! Stupid little punks! You should've known you could never beat me! Even if there were a billion of you, you would still lo-" Muk stopped and watched in horror as Sceps got up, his body glowing with the green energy of his ability Overgrow.

"Sorry Muk." Sceps said in a very weary voice. "But I think this time, we're passing the test." Then, a green dart appeared in Sceps' mouth. He opened his mouth and fired the dart straight into Muk's stomach. The dart took Muk's energy and transferred some of it to Sceps.

"Stupid little punk..." Muk said. "Absorb is a grass type move. It doesn't work well on poison types... like... meeee......" And with that, Muk passed out.

Sceps woke up his friends and told them everything over the Oran Berry that Sceps pocketed.

Later, back at the guild, police chief Typhlosion was arresting Muk.

"Great job, you guys!" Sparky said happily. "You are now officially an exploration team at the Summer Town guild!"

"Woohoo!" said Ryo as the four celebrated. "We're finally an exploration team!"

"But what will you call yourself?" Sparky asked.

"Well..." Ryo said, stopping from his little celebratory dance. "I think Sceps should get to think of it."

"Really?" asked Sceps. "You're letting me?"

"Yes. After all, you were the bravest against Muk." Ryo said.

"Well then..." Sceps thought. "From now on, we're the exploration team known as... Team Pokesquad!"

"That's a great name, Sceps!" Ryo said joyfully with a large smile on his face.

"Then it's decided." Sparky said. "Here you go." He handed them an Exploration Team Kit, complete with exploration team badges, a Treasure Bag, a Wonder Map, and three red bandannas. Ryo, Iron, and Mud all tied the bandannas around their necks when Sceps noticed something.

"Hey, there aren't enough bandannas for all of us." he said.

"Hmm. Well then Sceps..." Sparky said as he began untying the red bandanna from his own neck. "I want you to have mine." he handed Sceps his slightly tattered bandanna, which Sceps tied around his own neck.

"Thank you, guildmaster!" Sceps said, respect and joy in his voice.

"Well, enough of this." Sparky said. "It's time for your guild orientation!"

* * *

Revised 12-20-09


	4. The Guild and Summer Town

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 3:

_The Guild and Summer Town_

"We'll start with a tour of the guild!" Sparky said.

Team Pokesquad observed every inch of the guild, especially Sceps, who had only seen it once. The guild was built inside a giant rock that protruded from the ground along the edge of Summer Town, only about half a mile away from the forest. This rock was at least fifty feet in diameter. The surface was rough and rocky, going upward five whole stories. It was like a miniature mountain. There were windows, a large door with a roof extension above it (which looked odd, considering there was no roof, therefore it was just sticking out of the hill), and a pokeball with two wings as a large decoration painted on the door. Sceps recognized this winged pokeball design as the design of his explorer badge.

After that, they went inside of the guild, and they saw the first floor. It had the sentry base, the kitchen and dining area, and the bathrooms. But next to the staircase leading to the next floor, Sceps couldn't help but notice a locked chamber that took up a majority of the floor's space, making it look small despite being the largest floor in the guild.

The second floor was where countless pokemon were socializing. There were a few supply closets lined up at the wall, and also a door leading to the guildmaster's office. But one thing in particular caught Sceps' eye.

"What are those?" Sceps asked, pointing to two large bulletin boards on either side of the wall.

"I'm glad you asked." Sparky began. "Those are the Job and Outlaw Bulletin Boards. Explorers accept missions from these boards. These missions take place in Mystery Dungeons. The jobs from the Job Bulletin Board are simple, with jobs scuh as item delivery, escort missions, or saving a pokemon trapped or lost in a dungeon. The Outlaw Notice Board missions are tougher. They require you to fight a dangerous criminal like Muk in mid-dungeon. These usually have better rewards though."

"Wait, rewards?" Iron said curiously.

"Well yes." Sparky said. "You get rewards from completing these missions. They include items, money, and, of course, exploration team points. I just need to warn you beforehand though, the guild gets ninety percent of all monetary rewards."

"WHAT?!" screamed a wide-eyed Ryo. "That's completely unfair! We only get ten percent?!"

"Hey, I thought it was unfair in my days as an explorer, but how do you think the guild gets most of its funding?" Sparky said. "Besides, you get to keep the items. And ten percent is better than zero percent."

"I still think it's pretty unfair." Ryo mumbled under his breath as he crossed his arms and looked down at his feet.

Next, Sparky lead the team into his office.

"Now I know this room is a familiar sight to you." said Sparky. It was the very office in which Sceps learned of his fate, and the office in which Team Pokesquad had officially formed.

"Nonetheless, I will tell you about of the Administrative Quarters." Sparky said. "You see, a guildmaster can choose his or her fellow explorers to help them run their guild. This is known as an Administrative Team. My Administrative Team consists of myself, Empoleon, Infernape, Lopunny, and Torterra. This is my own office. Beyond the door to your right, there are the five separate living quarters and offices of myself and my team. To your left is our five separate bathrooms. And the door in the middle part of the wall is our main social area, quite similar to a living room."

"Hey, what about that bookshelf over there?" Mud asked, gesturing towards a large bookcase located a bit to the left behind Sparky's desk.

"Ah, yes. That is my personal library. I have either read or written every book in those shelves." Sparky said with pride. "If you ever want to read any of them, just ask."

"What about this one?" Sceps asked curiously as he went to the bookshelf and picked out a rather well-hidden book entitled _Sparky's Journal_.

Sparky quickly rushed to Sceps and grabbed the book out of his hands, then put it in his desk drawer. "No, not that one." said Sparky, smiling widely with his eyes closed, a large sweatdrop forming on his head. He was clearly hiding nervousness and relief .

The third, fourth, and fifth floors were very different from the rest of the guild. There was an enormous spiral staircase (with a railing along the side of the staircase, of course) going alongside the walls all the way up these three stories. Between every ten feet going along the staircase was a door, with a whopping forty-one doors in all.

"Whoah." said Ryo as he gazed in awe at the four hundred and twenty feet of staircase that covered three stories.

"Yes, it's very impressive." said Sparky, admiring the incredibly tall room. "Behind each of these doors are decently-sized living quarters. The bottom twenty-five are for our solo apprentices and. the thirteen above that are for our exploration teams. The two above those are for guests, and the one at the very top is a one-night home for new recruits. You'll be sleeping there tonight. I'll get our mail carrier to retrieve your items from your homes after dinner if you'd like."

"I don't need anything from home." said Ryo.

"I don't either." said Iron.

"Nor do I." said Mud.

"Hm. Alright then. You might as well meet the guild then!" Sparky said. He then lead Team Pokesquad back to his office and spoke over an intercom: "All guild members, report to the 2nd floor immediately!" Soon, all the guild's pokemon that weren't already there had rushed in. "Alright everybody, these are our new rookies, Team Pokesquad!"

After giving a speech about Team Pokesquad and accepting new rookies, he went to introducing the guild members. "At this guild, we have twenty solo apprentices and ten exploration teams, the tenth being you four. Our individuals that have special duties here are Golbat, who has the duty of enforcing the mandatory 7:00 am wake up call, Hypno, who enforces the 9:30 pm lights out time, Fearow, our mail carrier, our sentry Gastly, the Job and Outlaw Bulletin Board updater Porygon-Z, and both Nidoran and Nidorina are our chefs. Our thirteen who have no special duties are Rhyperior, Cherrim, Shedinja, Chinchou, Gible, Makuhita, Carnivine, Sentret, Gligar, Snorunt, Wailmer, Electabuzz, and Graveler."

"You never cease to say mouthfuls, guildmaster..." Iron mumbled under his breath.

"And you never cease to provoke me to tell you to be quiet." Sparky retaliated smoothly. "Anyways, our ten exploration teams here are: Team Darkhound with Mightyena and Absol, Team Wild with Mothim, Cacturne, Sharpedo, and Cloyster, Team Tiny with Growlithe,, Vulpix, Bonsly, and Mime Jr., Team Strange with Ditto, Smeargle, and Wobbofet, Team Blade with Shiftry and Scyther, Team Brine with Floatzel and Octillery, Team Element with Pachirisu, Ponyta, Skiploom, and Tododile, Team Commando with Murkrow and two Honchkrows, and Team Darkshroud with Drifblim, Mismagius, and Umbreon, and of course, our tenth team is you four. Now Sceps, since you're new to being a pokemon, how about a tour of Summer Town?"

"Sure." said Sceps.

"Alright then." Sparky said. "But Iron, Ryo, Mud, you guys don't get out of this. Come along."

After a moment of groaning from the three pokemon, they were on their way.

The five pokemon soon reached the middle of the town. "This place is known as Summer Town Square. At almost any time of the day, you will find this place filed with business and energy." Sparky began. "There are a lot of different business facilities here. There's Kangaskhan Storage, the Lickilicky Bank, the Mamoswine Link Shop, although he doesn't seem to be there, the Chansey Egg Care, but she as well is not open right now, the Primape Dojo, and, of course, the Keckleon Market! Let's go there now!"

"Hello, and welcome to the Keckleon Market!" said the two eccentric pokemon in unison.

"It's not every day that we see a Treecko! Is this the former human we've heard so much about?" asked the green one.

"Yes he is." Sparky told them before turning his attention to Sceps. "You see Sceps, these are the Keckleon brothers. The green Keckleon brother sells everyday things, and the purple Keckleon brother sells TMs, Orbs, and once in a blue moon, the ever-rare Key."

"Wait, slow down." said Sceps. "Keys?"

"Yes." Sparky said. "Keys are used to open a locked area in a Mystery Dungeon with a rare item in it, and it can only be opened with a Key. Do remember though, these TMs and Keys are quite expensive, considering how valuable they are. Anyways..." Sparky turned to the green Keckleon brother. "I'll take four Apples and one Big Apple." Sparky paid for the apples and lead Team Pokesquad over to the beach, giving each of them a normal sized Apple, and taking the Big Apple for himself.

As the five pokemon sat on a couple of benches near the harbor to eat when Sceps noticed a small building. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at the building.

"That's the Summer Town police station and jail. It's were criminals are taken and interrogated by Police Chief Typhlosion."

"But it's such a small building!" Sceps declared. "It can't possibly serve as a prison!"

"That's because it only serves as a temporary jail." Sparky said. "The criminals are later shipped off by boat to have their trial. Then they are either set free or sent to one of three prison islands. The minimum-security Steelrust Island for small criminals, The medium-security Darkwater Island for the middle-rate lawbreakers, and the infamous and dangerous maximum-security prison island known as Pinnacle Island, where all of the big-time outlaws are shipped off to. Hey, I can see Muk on a ship leading to Steelrust now! I guess they got him to confess, so he isn't having a trial." Sceps had finished his Apple and saw the worried looking Muk on the ship. He couldn't help but feel some pity. After all, he was the very reason that Muk was on that boat.

"Well, we'd better go back to the guild." Sparky said. It's almost 7:00 pm and the sun is setting. It's almost dinnertime!" The five walked back to the guild, each hungry despite their recent snacks. They got to the guild just in time for their dinners. The guild members each got an Apple, a small steak, rice, and bread, along with water or one a glass of soda of their choice. The Administrative Team members each got a Big Apple, a large steak, corn, garlic bread, and a glass of wine.

"Ahem." Sparky said, getting the entire guild's attention and clearing his throat. "Before we begin eating, I'd like to declare a toast to our newest Exploration Team, Team Pokesquad, with it's members, Ryo, Iron, Mud, and Sceps!"

The entire guild raised and clanked their glasses before they began to eat. Dinner was over within and hour, so the pokemon all had an hour and a half to socialize amongst themselves.

Afterwards, Team Pokesquad walked up the three-story spiral staircase to their one-night room (which actually was not tiring in the least, much to their surprise). There were four hay beds, so they had just enough for none of them to have to sleep on the floor. After talking amongst themselves for a few minutes, Hypno knocked on Team Pokesquad's door.

"9:30 rookies. Lights out." said Hypno before he turned off the light. One by one, the members of Team Pokesquad fell soundly asleep... except for Iron. He didn't know what, but something was causing him to feel uneasy...

_Meanwhile, on the top of a nearby mountain..._

The pokemon emerged from it's cave at the summit. It's blue eyes were glowing with fearsome instinct. It looked at the moon, and roared into the night. But none of the pokemon at the summit had heard this mighty roar. They had all been knocked out cold.

* * *

Revised 12-27-09


	5. Greystone Mountain

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 4:

_Greystone Mountain_

"What new information?" asked Infernape.

It was the dead of the night. Infernape and Torterra were discussing a new discovery in the Administrative Quarters living room. The burning logs in the fireplace were crackling. A reading lamp faintly lit the room, mixed with the moonlight shining through the windows.

"At first it was just a rumor, but it's been confirmed." Torterra said. After telling Infernape what the information was, the two pokemon were silent.

"Then who should we send? It's not exactly something we need to send our stronger guild members to do." said Infernape after the moments of silence.

"Personally, I think Team Pokesquad would be best suited." Torterra answered,

"What?! But they're new rookies!" Infernape said, shocked at what Torterra said.

"And what better way for them to begin proving themselves as a good team?" Torterra said calmly.

"Fine." sighed Infernape. "I'll present them with the mission tomorrow if you'd like."

"That would be fine. Now I'm going back to bed. Goodnight, Infernape."

_The next day..._

"7:00 AM! WAKE UP!" Golbat shouted.

"Augh! What? How many?!" Ryo shouted as he bolted upwards from his bed, extremely alarmed by this loud noise.

"My ears are ringing!" Mud complained.

"Is this the wake up call?!" said a dizzy Sceps.

"Dammit to hell, what's all the shouting for?!" yelled Iron, clearly disgruntled.

"It's the wake up call, rookies!" Golbat said. "If you guys wanna be late for the morning briefing, don't blame me!"

The entire Team Pokesquad then became alert that they needed to get up. They all tied on their bandannas and ran downstairs. They made it to the 2nd floor just in time for the everyday briefing.

"Remember the three cheers of every guild!" Sparky said. "One! Don't shirk work!"

"Don't shirk work!" The entire guild repeated.

"Two! Run away and pay!" Sparky shouted.

"Run away and pay!" repeated the guild.

"And three! Smiles go for miles!"

"Smiles go for miles!"

"Alright then!" Sparky said. "Before the briefing ends today, Infernape has a special announcement!"

"Yes." said Infernape. "We have reports that a new Mystery Dungeon has spawned at the nearby mountain range! It is: Greystone Mountain!"

The whole guild was shocked to hear this.

"Yes." Infernape continued. "The natural imbalance there seems to be a strong pokemon terrorizing the weaker ones. It is unknown what made this pokemon go berserk, but we're sending a team to conquer the dungeon. And that team is... Team Pokesquad!"

This surprised everybody. There were murmurs amongst the guild. Team Pokesquad's members were dumbfounded. They had just joined the guild the day before, and they had already been handed such a mission?

"Anyways," Sparky said, stopping the murmuring. "Team Pokesquad is to depart immediately. For the rest of you, continue as usual today. Break!" And at that, the guild disbursed.

As the pokemon of Team Pokesquad prepared to leave, Lopunny came to them with a small sheet of paper.

"This is the known information about the dungeon." she said, handing Ryo the paper slip.

"Hmm." Ryo said, observing the paper. "Thirteen floors. Says we can expect to see Evee, Geodude, and Diglett as opponents. Considering our types, we should be at a good advantage there. Alright, let's go!"

_Later, at the first floor of the dungeon..._

"Well, this is convenient." said Ryo, seeing the staircase at the first room they entered.

"Well, we still have an enemy to fight." said Sceps, pointing at a Diglett that was coming at them.

The Diglett was soon in front of Team Pokesquad, ready to fight. It opened up by using Scratch on Sceps (and if you're wondering how a Diglett can use Scratch, it kicks a small sharp rock at you from underground). Iron proceeded to use Mud-Slap, and Ryo used Quick Attack. This defeated the Diglett and they advanced to the 2nd floor.

On the 2nd floor, Mud had learned a new technique from defeating an Evee. This technique was none other than Water Gun.

Upon reaching the 7th floor, Ryo had learned a strong attack called Force Palm that did well against the opposing Geodude and Evees.

At the 10th floor, just as the team began getting tired, Sceps had learned Quick Attack. Iron soon started to notice that he wasn't hurting the enemy pokemon quite as much as the others, but he didn't let it bother him.

Finally, they reached the staircase at the 13th floor. As they walked up the stairs, Iron began to feel very uneasy. It was the same sensation of nervousness in his stomach that had kept him up late last night. But he couldn't find out just what it was... until he saw him.

He was the pokemon that had been terrorizing the others on the mountain. He looked ferocious. His icy blue eyes, his four clawed feet stomping the ground, causing dust to lift. The metal plates on his forehead and back shining in the hot sun. He was Lairon. But that wasn't all. He was also Iron's...

"Brother."

"What!" shouted Ryo, alarmed. "This pokemon is... your brother?!"

"Yes." Iron answered, his tone dark.

"Listen, Iron..." Sceps said. "Considering the circumstances, you don't have to fight if you don't wa-"

"I do want to fight." Iron interrupted. "The sooner we beat him, the sooner he'll be back to normal."

"Then it's on." said Mud, a determined look on his face.

And with that Team Pokesquad and Lairon charged at each other.

Lairon plowed right through the team. As he was violently knocked aside, Sceps noticed the plate on Lairon's head was glowing white. This could only be the move Iron Head.

Ryo skidded to a halt on both feet and one hand as he was pushed, and then charged at Lairon, Force Palm ready. But Lairon kicked foreward and stopped Ryo with the familiar move called Mud-Slap.

The moment after Ryo had wiped the mud from his face and was able to see again, he saw Lairon open his mouth and shift his head to the sky, as he let out an incredibly loud roar. A sound wave exploded around Lairon, shattering the terrain round him and sending Ryo flying backwards until he crashed hard into a stone wall.

Lairon then focused his attention on Mud. Mud saw this and was about to prepare a Water Gun attack as Lairon ran towards him when Lairon jumped into the air, catching Mud by surprise. He was about to hit Mud with his powerful Take Down attack when a green dart hit him in the middle of his stomach, and then it absorbed his energy. But Sceps hadn't stopped with his Absorb attack. He jumped into the air at lightning speed and kicked Lairon in the chest, sending him flying back and surprising him with Quick Attack.

But Lairon merely got up and snarled, clearly angered by Sceps' surprise attacks. His forehead plate started to glow white, and he concentrated on Iron. He then bolted forward, white energy blasting up dust and small rocks where he started running. Iron prepared his Mud-Slap attack when he realized he wouldn't be fast enough to get out of the way, and that the Mud-Slap wouldn't stop his brother. Just as he thought he was about to be hit, Mud's Water Gun blindsided Lairon, the force of the water stopping him and knocking him over.

Lairon got up again, this time infuriated. He charged at Mud again, who prepared to fire his Water Gun upward. But when Lairon jumped and Mud was bout to attack, Lairon stopped him by using Roar to knock him off his feet. Mud took the Take Down head on, and fainted.

Before the dust that was kicked up by the attack could settle, Sceps felt something powerful smash into his body. There was a small explosion of white energy as Sceps was blown backwards straight into a rock by the powerful Iron Head attack.

Iron was the only one left. Ryo was unconscious and Mud, as well a Sceps, were both too injured to keep on fighting.

"Looks like it's just you and me." Iron said in an angry and tough voice.

Lairon merely growled in response.

"Dammit Iron, run! He's too strong!" Mud shouted.

"No." Iron said. "I can't give up now. This is it. Victory is in reach. So I'm gonna try and grab it."

It was a standstill. The air was filled with tension. The icy blue eyes of the two brothers were staring into each other, Iron's filled with determination, Lairon's filled with raw wild instinct.

The two pokemon kicked back their left hind legs. The plate on Lairon's forehead began to glow white. But Iron had a new move ready for this. It wasn't as strong as Iron head, but it was his only hope.

Then they charged.

The heads of the two pokemon collided with incredible force, causing an explosion of white energy and dust. Iron had used Headbutt. But was it a match for his brother's Iron Head?

It seemed to take years for the dust lifted by the attack to finally settle. The sight after it had was the two brothers with their foreheads against each other.

Seconds passed. They just glared into each other's eyes, waiting for the other to fall.

One minute.

Two minutes.

The time passed, feeling like years, before Lairon finally collapsed on his side.

Iron walked away to help his teammates recover from this fearsome battle.

"Now you're free, brother." he said, looking back on the unconscious Lairon. "You're finally free from this dark influence."

Lairon woke up later, the entire Team Pokesquad watching him. "Iron? Wha-what's going on?"

Iron explained everything. He explained about Sceps, Team Pokesquad, and how Lairon had been under an evil influence.

"Thanks for saving me lil' bro." Lairon said, smiling.

_Later at the guild, after dinner..._

"Ah, there you are, Team Pokesquad!" Sparky said. He was leaning against one of several boxes that were on the floor of the third story. "Congratulations on your success today on the mission!"

"Uh, guildmaster..." Mud chimed in. "What's in the boxes?"

"I'm glad you asked." said the smiling Pikachu. "It's the furniture I ordered for your new room. As I said before, the room you slept in last night was only a one-time living area. You'll be living in room number 35 from now on. Come on, help me carry these boxes up."

After lugging the last of the boxes up most of the long spiral staircase, they proceeded to open them. There was a lamp, two nightstands, four hay beds, a large rug with the explorer symbol on it, small red drapes for the window, and two three-seat couches.

"Here Sceps, catch." Sparky said as he threw a thin book at Sceps. Sceps looked at it, puzzled, when Sparky told him what it was.

"It's a furnishing catalog." he said. "If you want to place an order, just circle what you want and bring the catalog to me. But since I paid for the furnishing you got just now, you have to pay for anything you want to order. And trust me, it's not the cheapest stuff in the world. Oh well, goodnight. You have about half an hour to place your furniture before Hypno comes and orders lights out. I'll take the boxes down and recycle them. Goodnight."

And on that note, Sparky left the room.


	6. The Mantyke Rescue

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 5:

_The Mantyke Rescue_

"I have a special mission for you four today!" said Sparky.

"Special mission?" Ryo asked. They hadn't gotten a special mission since they had explored Greystone Mountain, and that was almost a week ago.

"Yes. You are to go to the dungeon Misty Lake to save a missing Mantyke." Sparky answered.

"Well, that doesn't sound too hard. Do you have information about the dungeon for us?" Ryo said.

"Indeed we do." Sparky answered, handing Ryo a slip of paper.

"Ten floors." Ryo read. "Enemies are Psyduck, Corsola, Marill, and Barboach. The natural imbalance is the large amount of mist that makes the area very obscure. Alright, I think we'll go!"

_Later, at floor 1 of the Misty Lake dungeon..._

Sceps frowned as he looked down. The water was quite deep. It completely soaked him up to his ankles, and the water made it nearly impossible for him to see his feet. Another thing about the environment that he did not like, excluding the heavy mist, was the squishy wet mud and grass that was under the water he was stepping on. In spite of his disliking of the dungeon, Team Pokesquad pressed on. Sceps defeated a majority of the opposing pokemon using his Absorb attack, but he wasn't without assistance.

The four pokemon wandered about the first floor of the dungeon for a while. This floor was the irritating kind that had many small chambers instead of a few large ones. Still, they did find some Poke and items along the way.

At the 2nd floor, they were cornered right at the beginning. Two Psyduck had entered the first room they were in only moments after they had arrived. Sceps and Iron had made short work of them though through Pound and Headbutt. Fortunately though, the four had reached the staircase in the very next room they entered.

The 3rd floor was enemy-infested. Four Corsola and a Marill are what stood in their way of the stairs.

Afterwards, it was practically smooth sailing. At least twice they entered a floor in the same room as a staircase. Eventually, after walking up the staircase found on floor 10, they reached the area called Deep Misty Lake.

There was a very young pokemon, recognizable as a Mantyke, crying in the middle of the area. It seemed to sense the four pokemon there, as it looked up towards them.

"Aah!" he yelped. "No more bad pokemon! Go away!" Mantyke was clearly distressed. He started thrashing about with his eyes closed, hoping to repel the four. Then, Mud decided to speak up.

"Mantyke, we're not bad pokemon. We're Team Pokesquad of the Summer Town guild, and we're here to get you out of here!"

"No! I don't believe you!" shrieked the crying Mantyke.

"He's telling the truth. We're here to take you home." Ryo said.

Ryo, despite the objections of the crying Mantyke, scooped him up in his arms and began to carry him to the guild. After a while, Mantyke stopped crying and literally fell asleep in Ryo's arms.

"Poor guy." he said. "What do you guys think made him so scared? It doesn't look like he had any contact with the enemy pokemon."

"I would guess he's probably been separated from his family." Iron replied. "Ryo, did Lopunny also give you the mission info when she gave you the dungeon info?"

"Come to think of it, I think she did." Ryo said as he pulled out the slip of paper that Lopunny gave him. "You were correct about the parents thing. The pokemon that filed the mission was Mantyke's mother, Mantine."

As the team walked back to the guild, Mantyke seemed to get more and more comfortable sleeping in Ryo's arms. Sceps couldn't help but observe how fatherly his friend looked, and sometimes even had to keep himself from laughing a little bit.

When Team Pokesquad returned to the guild, they found the Administrative Team and Mantine waiting for them. Mantyke immediately woke up, and was overjoyed to see his mother again.

After their happy reunion, Mantyke went on to explain what had happened.

"You see, I was playing outside of our home when I saw something shiny gleaming in the fog." he began. "It was so pretty, I couldn't help myself. I had to go see what it was. Before I knew it, I was lost in the fog. The pokemon there were all so scary... Oh, but I still got the shiny thing!" Mantyke then placed something odd in front of himself.

It was very strange. It was a feather, but it was made of glass. The strangest part about it though was that it could only move if the wind was blowing against it. But only the northern winds would cause it to move. Sceps could have stared at it all day if Sparky hadn't spoken up.

"You know, this was an A rank mission boys, and you only needed thirty more exploration team points to make it to the next rank, so... congratulations!" All of the sudden, the entire guild seemed to pour into the 2nd floor. At that, Mantyke took the odd feather back and seemed to disappear into the crowd.

"What's going on?" Ryo asked.

"Why, you've made it to bronze rank! And with the record time of only one week, I might add!" Sparky answered.

"Here, let me see all of your explorer badges." said Empoleon. Team Pokesquad obliged and handed him their badges. He then pressed on the small gem in the middle of each badge and said gems changed color!

"There. You are now officially bronze rank." Empoleon said, this time with a small smile. The entire guild cheered for a minute or two before they realized it was dinner time and left for the dining area.

After dinner, Team Pokesquad went off to socialize when Mightyena and Absol approached them.

"Hey guys." Mightyena said. "I just wanted to say good job. It took us almost a month to reach bronze rank. So-"

"We decided to give you guys a gift. It actually came from Mantyke, but he told us to give it to you." Absol said, interrupting her partner.

Mightyena scowled at her for a second before he pushed a small box to Team Pokesquad from under his paw.

"Thank you!" Ryo said as he picked up the box. But when he opened it he saw nothing inside. "Where's the present?" he asked, disappointed.

"What do you mean?" Absol asked. Mightyena looked in the box and indeed found nothing.

"What the hell?" said Mightyena, clearly puzzled.

"Wait, there's a note!" Sceps exclaimed as he picked up a small piece of paper that was inside of the box.

"Well what does it say?" asked Mightyena.

"It says:" Sceps began, clearing his throat. "_You think you guys are so great, reaching bronze rank in a week, huh? Well then prove it! Come to Dark Menacing Valley, the area deepest in the Mystery Dungeon known as Menacing Valley, tomorrow! That is, if you want this precious present! And if anybody besides Team Pokesquad comes, we're destroying the present! See you losers tomorrow, if you have the guts! Wahahahaha!_"

"Those bastards!" barked Mightyena.

"Please, Team Pokesquad." Absol said in a soothing tone, quite different from that of her partner's. "You must get that present back. It's one of a kind. It can't afford to be lost!"

Ryo looked around at the determined expressions of his teammates and put on that look himself. "Don't worry you guys." he said. "We'll find it."

_Later that night, in Dark Menacing Valley..._

"Do you really think those losers will come?"

"Of course. This is their present and it came from their client."

"Aw, I wish we didn't have to wait until tomorrow. I wanna beat the crap out of them now!"

"Just be patient. After all, we only have to wait so long..."


	7. Chasing the Gift

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 6:

_Chasing the Gift_

"Is this the right place?" Sceps asked.

"Yes." Ryo answered. "The letter says Menacing Valley, and this is Menacing Valley. You guys ready?"

"Yes." said Mud.

"Yes." repeated Sceps.

"Born ready." said a smirking Iron.

"Then let's go." Ryo said. He then lead his team into the Mystery Dungeon.

The surroundings were dark. The plants were all dying, the dirt was a strange dark purple, and the whole dungeon seemed to be in a state of permanent nightfall. It then occurred to Sceps that perpetual nighttime was the natural imbalance here.

The four made their way through the first few floors, encountering foes such as Poochyena, Gastly, Shuppet, Duskull, and Stunky.

It was on the 7th floor that Sceps spotted something odd.

"What is this?" he asked, picking up a seed and observing it in his hand.

"That's a Reviver Seed!" Ryo answered. "It's quite the uncommon item! If you get knocked out and you have a Reviver Seed, it will bring you back to full health! But it can only be used one time before it turns into a Plain Seed."

Afterwards, the team continued. They found themselves in trouble once or twice, but still managed to press onward. It didn't take long before they were at floor 16.

"Ryo, how many more floors?" asked a panting Iron.

"Yeah. Is there a 17th floor beyond this staircase?" Mud asked, nudging his head to the nearby stairs.

"I don't know guys. The information I got said 16 floors, but we didn't get this from the Administrative Team. It could be faulty." Ryo answered.

"I could go for a million floors if I had to." said Sceps. "If that information is wrong, then we'll just have to keep going until we do get to the end.

"Then why are we lying around here? Let's go!" said Ryo, who then lead his team to the next floor.

The information was correct. They were now in Dark Menacing Valley, the area in which Mantyke's present was being held.

Team Pokesquad looked around.

"Hello?" Mud yelled into the darkness.

"Are you asshole thieves here?" yelled Iron.

"It's us! Team Pokesquad!" yelled Sceps.

"We're here to get the gift back!" yelled a now irritated Ryo.

Suddenly, there was rustling in some nearby bushes. Team Pokesquad started to get a bit scared because of this. There was even more rustling before a faint voice became audible.

"Guys!" The voice whispered. "They're here! Wake up!"

"What is this load of crap?" Ryo said. "This is just ridi-"

"SILENCE!" yelled the voice, this time much louder. "IF YOU FOOLS WANT YOUR GIFT BACK, THEN YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIGHT US FOR IT!!!"

And at that, the source of the voice burst from the bushes. Or rather burst and fell out of the bushes. Three pokemon jumped out, only to trip. But these three pokemon looked familiar. A Drifblim... a Mismagius... an Umbreon...

"Team Darkshroud!" yelled an extremely surprised Ryo. "What the hell is going on?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Drifblim as he and his team got up from the ground. "We're the ones who stole the present!"

"What? But why?!" asked Sceps.

"Because!" Drifblim began. "Did we ever get praise when we reached bronze rank? Did we ever get praise when we reached Silver Rank? Did we ever get three special missions thrust upon us within our first week? No! You guys are getting this special treatment, when we had to work for everything we've gotten! So we stole the present from you so you'd come, and then we could bring you down a couple notches!"

"But jealousy and violence isn't the answer!" Mud said.

"Shut up! You guys are going down!" yelled Umbreon in response.

And with that, Team Darkshroud charged.

Team Pokesquad jumped in four different directions to avoid the attack.

"Fine!" Ryo said. "You leave us with no choice! Team Pokesquad, fight!" And at their leader's command, Team Pokesquad attacked Team Darkshroud. Sceps, being a person who is wise to type advantages and disadvantages, hit Drifblim with Absorb instead of Pound or Quick Attack. Iron Headbutted Umbreon, and Mud used Water Gun on Mismagius. After the assault, the two teams moved, each on one side of Dark Menacing Valley.

The first to attack in this new formation was Drifblim,who shot his Gust attack at Sceps. Sceps tried to block it, but ended up taking most of the attack's power head on, causing him to fall back. Mud proceeded to use Water Gun on Mismagius, but she shot a Psywave to counter it. After the two attacks collided, Mud was caught off guard for a moment, a moment that Mismagius used to fire another Psywave that hit Mud.

Team Pokesquad was in trouble...

Umbreon tried to use Tackle on Iron, but Iron managed to hit him with Mud-Slap. Umbreon, being distracted by this, didn't have the time to defend himself from Iron's next move, Headbutt.

Mud, who was still hurt form the Psywave, changed his attention to Drifblim, who was distracted by Ryo and Sceps. Mud used Mud-Slap on Mismagius to distract her so that he could use Water Gun on Drifblim. But Mismagius was too fast. Before Mud could fire the attack, he was blindsided and knocked out by Mismagius' Magical Leaf.

"Ha! Loser!" Umbreon gloated. "Now you're next, Riolu!" He then vanished into the darkness. While invisible, he rushed towards Ryo at full speed. But something cut off his Pursuit technique. A painful smack hit him in the face, sending jitters down his spine and successfully ending his attack. He stared, mouth wide open, at the glowing purple that hit him in the face. The purple then died down to reveal a blue paw. Umbreon fell on his side, knocked unconscious by Ryo's super effective Force Palm.

Ryo, unfortunately, did not get time to celebrate his victory, as he was soon detained and squeezed hard. He looked down to see the green vines of the move Constrict.

Drifblim chuckled at his captive. Ryo then went wide-eyed for a moment before he was hit by both Mismagius' Hidden Power and Drifblim's Gust at the same time.

As Ryo fell unconscious to the ground, Iron whispered into Sceps' ear: "Looks like tow versus two now. But I can't use any of my attacks, since they won't do anything. Hand me the Geo Pebbles, okay? We've got to take down that annoying Drifblim first. Got it?"

"Got it!" answered Sceps in a whisper. The two then jumped in different directions, Sceps secretly handing Iron all of their Geo Pebbles. Sceps, in midair, prepared and shot his Absorb attack, as did Iron with a large amount of Geo Pebbles, all aiming for Drifblim. They were at an advantage, too. Drifblim was too shocked by this sudden change in strategy of his opponents to move. But then, something completely unexpected happened, shocking Iron and Sceps.

Mismagius had taken the attack for him. But before the surprised Drifblim could react to Mismagius' act of kindness, she was hit by three more volleys of Geo Pebbles and Absorb darts.

As he saw Mismagius fall to the ground, Drifblim became irritated by Team Pokesquad knocking out both of his comrades. He then pushed away the unconscious form of Mismagius and waved two of his arm-like appendages to create a Gust attack. The Gust did two jobs: hit Sceps and distracted Iron. For when Iron looked and saw that Drifblim wasn't where he was before, he was hit three times by Drifblim's Astonish and had the coup de grace delivered upon him in the form of Constrict.

"No!" yelled Sceps. But it was too late. Drifblim appeared in front of him. Sceps only got to stare in surprise at the pokemon towering above him for a moment before he was hit by a devastating barrage of Gusts.

Sceps went flying back after the seemingly endless onslaught of Gust attacks ended. Time seemed to slow down. Sceps was losing consciousness as he fell.

_'How could this happen?'_ He thought. _'How could we lose? How could I lose?'_ And with that final thought, Sceps hit the ground with a thud. And then he slipped into unconsciousness.

Drifblim stared at the forms of his defeated rivals. "Wa.. Waha... Wahahahahahahahahaha! What losers! We won! We won! WE WO-WHAT?!" Drifblim could only stare as a golden light enveloped Sceps. He had no idea what was going on until he saw the seed in the palm of Sceps' hand.

Sceps' hand then crushed the now-Plain Seed in his hand and got up.

Drifblim looked down from this sight and saw a whopping five green Absorb darts sprout on his body. The darts then glowed a brighter green and dozens of yellowish-white orbs of energy flew from the darts and into Sceps' body.

Sceps then walked over to the barely conscious Drifblim who was now lying on the ground.

"Dammit..." Drifblim cursed. "I guess we underestimated you losers. But if you ever have to fight us again, don't expect to win like you did this time..."

"Shut it." said a scowling Sceps. "And tell me where the damned gift is."

"Here, loser." coughed Drifblim as he set the unharmed gift in front of Sceps.

Sceps was surprised as he saw what the gift was. It was the glass feather that only moved by the north winds from before.

Sceps then took the present and put it back in the box that Mightyena gave him before. He then woke up his friends to help take Team Darkshroud back to the guild.

_Later at the guild..._

"Thank you for defeating them. They do have a bit of a history of getting jealous of the more fortunate rookies." said Sparky. "They will get a proper punishment."

"Anyways..." Empoleon began. "Sparky, do you think something seems... familiar? About that feather? About how it only moves when the northern winds blow?"

"Wait." said Sceps. "What is it about the feather that you're talking about?"

Sparky sighed. "Don't worry about it. We'll do a little research if will you allow us to keep it with us for a while. Will you please? We have a few... suspicions."

"Well then..." Sceps said quietly, looking down at the gift. "Sure." he then handed Sparky the feather.

"Hmm." Sparky said, observing the feather. "Well, until we're done with the feather, go on with business as usual, okay?"

"Alright." Sceps said.

"Good." Sparky said. "Now go to dinner. Empoleon and I have research to do."


	8. Sparky and the Great Slowking

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 7:

_Sparky and the Great Slowking_

"Any new leads Empoleon?" asked Sparky.

Empoleon yawned. "None. This feather is shrouded in mystery."

Sparky stared at Mantyke's gift. They had been investigating it almost nonstop for the past three days. Despite being unable to find out anything, Sparky wouldn't give up. He knew subconsciously that this feather had a special meaning.

"That's it!" Sparky yelled a few hours later, shocking his colleague. "Come on, we're getting ferry tickets to Royal Island!"

_Later at the nearby Royal Island..._

Sparky and Empoleon walked off of the ship, Empoleon carrying the research, Sparky carrying the feather and a map of the island. Due to how long the ferry ride was, the faces of the pokemon were partially concealed in darkness, the bright orange sky lighting everything else.

"Alright, I guess it's finally time I told you why we're here, my friend." Sparky said. "Of the few vague hints that I have found about the feather, all of them were in folklore books. Now do you remember that Slowking we met all those years back?

"Ugh, how could I forget?" replied Empoleon, shuddering.

"Well he knows almost all of the folklore in the world! I'm sure if we consult him about the feather, he can tell us if it means anything!" said a smiling Sparky.

"Ugh, fine." sighed his partner. "But do you even remember where the Bubble Cave dungeon was?"

"Honestly..." Sparky began. "...no. But I know somebody who does. Come on!"

And the two pokemon were on their way. Eventually, after traveling through a town about the size of Summer Town, they reached an old house. Empoleon thought nothing of the house until he saw the sign next to the door that read: _Home of Breloom_.

"No. Way." said Empoleon, wide-eyed. "Is this the Breloom I think it is?"

"Indeed it is." Sparky replied, knocking on the door. "If anyone remembers, it's our old guildmaster from our 2nd tier guild!"

And with that, the door opened. In the doorway was a green and grayish-light brown pokemon. He was about three and a quarter feet tall, with short arms, long legs, and a long tan tail. He'd look like any old Breloom with the exception of a few small but clear signs of age.

"Why hello!" the old Breloom said with a smile on his face. "Who may you two be? You don't seem to be from around Royal Town!"

"We're your old guild apprentices, remember?" Sparky elaborated. "Sparky and Prinplup? Or should I say Sparky and Empoleon?"

Breloom observed the two for a moment before recognizing them.

"Ah yes! Sparky, is it true that you became the guildmaster of the Summer Town guild shortly after I retired from the old business?" he asked.

"Yes!" Sparky answered. "2nd tier! And my Administrative Team is made up of the old exploration team. Infernape, Torterra and Lopunny are just back home running the guild."

"Ah yes." said Breloom. "Speaking of which, did you ever marry that pretty Lopunny? I remember that you and her wer-"

"Anyways, can we come inside? We have important business to discuss!" Sparky said, both interrupting his old mentor and ignoring his embarrassing question.

The three pokemon all walked inside and took seats in Breloom's living room. After talking for a few minutes, Breloom was completely informed about the feather and how they needed directions to Bubble Cave.

"What about your old Wonder Map?" Breloom asked them.

"Neither of us have our Wonder Maps anymore." replied Empoleon. "It's the result of yet another misadventure that I'd like to forget..."

"Hmm. Well in that case, just go south of my house until you reach the lake. Five feet underwater in the center of the lake is the cave." said Breloom.

And on that note of valuable information, the pair left.

_Some time later..._

"You know, it's smaller than I remember it." said Empoleon as he and his colleague walked through Bubble Cave.

"Ugh, wetter, too." said Sparky, who was still shaking water out of his fur.

The duo continued to stroll through the twelve-floor dungeon undisturbed (as the angry pokemon were too smart to approach such powerful opponents) until they reached the end.

There he was. Standing on a rock that was smack in the middle of a small but beautiful pond with two waterfalls on either end of the southern side pouring more water into it, was the wise Slowking. He seemed to be enjoying the serenity of his home before he noticed Sparky and Empoleon walking in.

"Who might you two be?" he asked, not recognizing them since he had met Empoleon when he was a Prinplup.

"Sparky and Empoleon. We came here as explorers with the rest of our team 24 years ago." answered Sparky.

"Ah, now I remember you!" exclaimed Slowking. "Yes, you're a guildmaster now, correct?"

"Yup." Sparky said. "I'm the guildmaster and my team is the rest of the Administrative Team. Everyone else is back at Summer Island. But anyways, we've come here for a specific reason."

"And what might that be?" asked Slowking.

"Empoleon, you can set down the research now." said Sparky. "We're going to need to show it to Slowking."

After about an hour of talking, the guildmaster asked Slowking if he knew anything about it.

"I'm sorry. I have no knowledge of what this feather is." said Slowking.

"So we came all this way for nothing?" asked Empoleon.

"I'm afraid so." answered Slowking.

"Well, that sucks." replied Sparky. "But this means that we'll just have to keep studying it. So come on Empoleon. It's going to be a long ride home."

* * *

Filler sucks. Oh well, too bad!


	9. The Great Empoleon

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 8:

_The Great Empoleon_

"There, the island is right up ahead!" shouted a pokemon.

"There? That's where The Great Empoleon lives?" asked another.

"It's kind of small." said another.

"I'm sure this is the place." said the first pokemon. The group of pokemon continued to swim until they got to the shores of Summer Island. Once there, they got into an argument.

"You should go, you're the one who lead us here!" said one of them.

"No way!" he retaliated.

"I agree with him!" said another. There were murmers amongst the crowd for a while, until one of them spoke up.

"We all agree that you go." she said.

"Ugh, fine!" grunted the pokemon that lead the group to Summer Island. And with that, he departed.

_Some time later, at the guild..._

"What is it Gastly?" asked Empoleon.

"There's a visitor at the entrance who insists on seeing you. He says that he won't leave until he has a thorough talk with you." he replied.

"Is that so?" said Empoleon, analyzing the situation in his mind for a moment. "Fine, I'll go see him." Empoleon went down to the entrance of the guild to find a Krabby standing at the door. "You wanted to see me?" said Empoleon.

"Yes, oh Great Empoleon." said the Krabby, closing his eyes and saluting Empoleon with his claw.

"Great Empoleon? What the hell are you talking about?" said Empoleon, puzzled.

"You're the great hero Empoleon, how can you not know? After all, you are the great leader of the Summer Town guild, correct?" asked the strange Krabby.

"Umm..." said Empoleon, wide-eyed.

"See, you are The Great Empoleon!" exclaimed the Krabby cheerfully. "Now come on, we need your help!"

"Wait, what?" shouted Empoleon. "And what do you mean _we_?!"

"Come on, follow me!" said the cheerful Krabby, completely oblivious to Empoleon's words. Krabby lead Empoleon all the way to the shores of Summer Island where he arrived.

"Dammit, I'm getting kind of sick of walki-" Empoleon cut himself off when he saw about 30 Krabbies standing in the water. "Holy crap..."

"It's The Great Empoleon!" screamed the group of Krabbies. "He's come to save our home!" Were the words of a few particularly loud crustaceans. "The guildmaster of the Summer Town Guild has arrived!"

"What a welcome wagon..." muttered the shocked Empoleon. After getting over his surprise and the crowd quieting down, he decided to ask a question: "What was it that you said about me saving your home?"

"Ah yes, the very reason I brought you here, oh Great Empoleon!" said the excited Krabby that lead him to the beach. "You see, our home has been completely encased in ice, and we know that only you would be strong enough to break it!"

"Hmm..." Empoleon murmured, contemplating the situation. After a moment, he spoke up. "Where's your home?" he asked.

"Hooray!!!" screamed the Krabbies. "The Great Empoleon is going to save our home! The Great Empoleon is going to save our home!"

_Later, about five miles at sea south of Summer Island..._

"There Great Empoleon!" yelled a Krabby, pointing it's claw ahead. "There's Crusty Islet!"

"Jeez, you weren't kidding when you said it was frozen over..." said Empoleon as he stopped swimming and started treading water while gazing at the giant glacier in front of him. "Well I don't know what kind of being is capable of doing this, but you came to the right pokemon for a solution...

Empoleon jumped out of the water, disappearing on the spot. He then reappeared in midair right next to the frozen isle.

"Wow, his speed is amazing! It's like he teleported!" said a Krabby in awe.

Empoleon's right claws began to glow as he thrust his wing into the air.

"This should do the trick!" he shouted, energy bursting around his wing. "METAL CLAW!!!" He swung down his claw with might, three white lines of light exploding on the glacier in front of him. Satisfied that his attack was so powerful, he returned to his original position in the water as quickly as he left.

Empoleon and the Krabbies watched the glacier for what felt like hours, expecting it to break into pieces.

"Why wasn't it destroyed?" asked a surprised Krabby, turning towards Empoleon.

"I don't know..." said Empoleon, extremely shocked that his attack did not destroy the glacier. "That's one tough hunk of ice... I guess I'll have to turn towards a different attack..."

This time, Empoleon dove underwater. It took a while before he reemerged, but when he did, he burst out of the water, glowing with blue energy.

"Hydro Pump!" shouted Empoleon, who opened up his beak. With that, for a split second, all of the blue energy around him disappeared, forming an orb of water next to his beak. This orb of water then exploded in a cannon of liquid, rushing towards the glacier with the speed and power of a rocket. The attack lasted for a few seconds before dying down, revealing a seemingly unharmed glacier.

"Whoah!' said Empoleon, as he dropped back into the ocean while the water that was pushed away from his technique returned to drench him.

When Empoleon emerged again, he and the Karbbies were at a complete loss of words. It was about a minute before Empoleon's irritation towards the glacier reached it's peak.

"That's IT!" he yelled, releasing his anger the form of a release of energy, which sent the poor group of Krabbies flying. "If Metal Claw and Hydro Pump won't do the job, only one thing will!"

Empoleon then burst with energy, similar to that of his Hydro Pump's. The energy blast had so much force that he was now floating above the ground rather than the ocean. The water started to whirl around him and the sky darkened as his dark blue energy became light blue, his eyes becoming the same shade.

"All of you, back away." warned Empoleon. "This attack is going to consume the next 50 meters of water around me." The Krabbies all swam away as fast and far as they could until they could tell they were at a safe distance.

"Are you ready, you damned glacier?" said Empoleon, his beak forming a smirk, but his eyes making it into an insane looking expression. The blue energy exploded around him as he screamed, sending shock waves throughout what seemed like the entire ocean. His whole body was now covered in light blue energy, and his whole eyes, whites and all, had turned the same color.

"He's going to destroy the whole island!" screamed a Krabby.

But it was too late. Empoleon screamed once more, and, as he said, the next 50 meters of water near him completely disappeared in the blink of an eye. He lowered his head so that it was pointing towards the glacier, opened his beak, and, like before, a ball of water formed in front of him. But instead of bursting into a rather large stream like Hydro Pump did, this attack seemingly exploded. A giant stream of water rushing at an estimated 150 MPH with a diameter of at least 60 feet burst out of the ball, with chaotic blue energy lining the exterior of it. It was so powerful that it completely parted the ocean around it, and even causing damage to the ground beneath. The attack lasted at least ten times longer than Hydro Pump did, and as it was blasting, a storm brewed in the skies.

It was the forbidden move, Hydro Cannon.

The glacier shattered the second the attack died down. As the water filled back in, Empoleon fell back down, and the storm died as quickly as it formed, the Krabbies cheered.

"You did it, oh Great Empoleon! Thank you so much" shouted the rejoicing Krabby that brought him to Crusty Isle.

"No problem." said Empoleon, now smiling. "But you need to know that I'm not the gui-" he was cut off as a burst of neon energy blindsided him.

"Hey, what gives?!" shouted a Krabby. But then it, too, was blasted with the attack, although she was completely frozen by it.

Empoleon got back up, shocked at what had just occurred. Krabbies were muttering in a panic as Empoleon got back up. He looked at where he had been hit and saw that it was encased in ice.

"You dare disturb my nest?!" screamed a pokemon from behind. It was a Cloyster who was apparently living in a hollow part of the glacier.

"Of course..." murmured Empoleon. "Only Cloysters are capable of making such sturdy ice, save Legendaries."

"All of you will feel my wrath!" screeched the Cloyster, who began to randomly fire her Aurora Beam about.

"You should know..." began Empoleon. "that this is not your home!" And at that, he removed the piece of ice from his side and thrust foreward his left wing, sending a powerful wave crashing towards the Cloyster with his mighty Surf attack.

But Cloyster had protected itself from the attack.

"Hah, it didn't even work!" said the smug Cloyster.

"My bad." remarked Empoleon, who appeared out of nowhere behind Cloyster and sent her flying miles away with another powerful Surf attack.

The Krabbies managed to go back to their Islet in peace and took care of their frozen brethren. They celebrated Empoleon the whole night.

_The next morning..._

As Empoleon set off to go back to Summer Island, the whole group of Krabbies gathered to thank him once more and see him off. But Empoleon had one thing left to say.

"You mean you're NOT the guildmaster?!" yelled the bewildered Krabby that lead Empoleon to his group the previous day.

"That is the truth." replied Empoleon. "I'm sorry if that tidbit of information let you down. But hey, at least I'm the guildmaster's right-paw pokemon."

"I guess you're right..." said the disappointed Krabby.

"Hey, don't look so down." said Empoleon, who bent down to look at the Krabby face-to-face. "I'll always be The Great Empoleon, won't I? Now cheer up. I've got to go now, but I hope our paths cross again someday."

"Alright." said Krabby. "Oh Great Empoleon."

Empoleon left the islet smiling.


	10. Burning Hatred

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 9:

_Burning Hatred_

"Ryo, are you there?" whispered Sceps.

It was the dead of night and Ryo was nowhere to be found.

'_Where the hell can he possibly be?_' wondered Sceps, noticing on the clock that it was 11:57 pm. He (as quietly as possible) searched as much of the guild as possible, but no Ryo. So he snuck outside to search Summer Town.

"Ryo?" Sceps called in a whisper. "Ryo?"

"Sceps!" called a voice.

Sceps recognized this voice as Ryo's, and ran towards the direction he heard it come from.

"Ryo?!" he said when he saw his friend. "What the hell are you doing here? It's almost midnight!"

"The moon." Ryo said.

"What?" asked Sceps.

"The moon. Isn't it beautiful tonight?"

Sceps glanced up at the moon. It was full tonight.

"I guess." he said.

"The moon is one of my favorite things of all time." said Ryo. "I would give almost anything to go there."

"Almost?"

"Well I wouldn't give up you and the others, Sceps. Over the past three weeks, I feel like I've known you my whole life. I've gotten to be really close friends with you, and I want it to stay that way." Ryo said.

'_Is he saying that he doesn't want me to return to my world?_' Sceps thought.

"Hmm." said Ryo. "I can sense that it just struck midnight."

Sceps looked at Ryo. He was just staring at the moon, completely intent with his life. But did he really value his friendship with Sceps too much to let him go? After only three weeks, he felt like a brother to Sceps. If he returned to his world, could Ryo handle it?

"Sceps?" Ryo said after a long silence.

"What is it?" Sceps asked.

"Friends forever?" said Ryo, extending his arm with his paw in a fist.

"Sure, buddy." answered Sceps with a smile, followed by hitting his fist against Ryo's. "Now come on. Let' get back to the guild."

_The next morning, at the guild..._

"What is it, Gastly?" asked Infernape.

"There's a visitor at the door that needs attention quickly. It seems like she's been injured." he answered grimly. "I need you to give the call for medical help."

"Fine." said Infernape. "Bring her in. I'll get help."

Some time later, the entire guild was gathered around the visitor (who was identified as a Nuzleaf) while Meganium, the local doctor, was tending to her wounds.

"She seems to be in a pretty bad condition." said Meganium, clearly worried. "She's sustained many burns, some very severe. Still, I don't think we'll need to transfer her to a hospital just yet."

"Wait a minute." said Sparky. "Burns this severe... they can't have been caused by another pokemon, right?"

"No, they couldn't have." answered Meganium. "Not even a legendary can create flames that are hot enough to put a pokemon in such a critical condition."

"So if it wasn't caused by a pokemon..." said Sparky. "Then why are there so many cuts and bruises on her? If she was attacked, as is the most likely case, then how was she also burned? There haven't been reports of fires in months."

"Sir!" yelled Torterra, who was making his way through the room. "We have just received a report of a new Mystery Dungeon! And it may very well be linked to this woman's injuries!"

"What is it?" asked Sparky.

"Take a look for yourself." he said, handing the slip of paper in his mouth to Sparky.

"Scorched Flatland?" he said, bewildered.

"Yes." said Torterra. "18 floors of hellish fire. Definitely hotter than what any pokemon can make, too."

"Ugh..." muttered a voice.

Everybody turned around to where the voice was coming from. Shockingly, it was Nuzleaf. She was trying to get up, but Meganium made her stay down.

"Please." she said. "Just stay down and let Synthesis do its work."

"My little boy, Seedot..." Nuzleaf muttered. "You have to save him... that Scorched Flatland... he got lost there. I tried to save him, but-ACK!" Nuzleaf started to go into a coughing fit, scaring almost everyone there. "I couldn't save him... the flames... and the pokemon..." She then fell unconscious once more.

"I'll get her transferred to a hospital." said Meganium, who then used her vines to pick up Nuzleaf and carry her away.

"We're going to have to send a team to retrieve that Seedot as fast as we can." said Sparky, clearly determined to rescue the child.

"We can go, guildmaster!" said Mightyena. "We are one of the guild's strongest teams, after all!"

"No, it'll still be too dangerous." said Sparky.

"Sir, why don't we just go?" asked Empoleon.

"Are you crazy?!" Sparky barked. "Not after what happened all those years ago on Mt. Flare.

"Then we'll go." said Sceps, stepping foreward.

"You've got to be kidding me!" yelled Sparky. "You could end up seriously injured, or WORSE!"

"Sorry guildmaster," Ryo began. "But we've decided."

"No." shouted Sparky. "Absolutely NOT! I will not let my guild's rookies go out on a suicide mission! You'll get burned to a crisp, and who knows how strong the pokemon there are!"

"Sir." said Mud. "With all due respect, you need to quit being so paranoid and let us go. It's our decision."

"In my 18 years as guildmaster..." huffed Sparky. "I have never heard such words from one of my rookies..."

He walked up to Mud and began to loom over him, causing him to become intimidated.

"... so I'll have to let you go." he finished.

"WHAT?!" yelled Ryo.

"You guys are clearly determined to go." said Sparky. "So I'll just have to let you. But don't go crying to me when you come back with third degree burns."

Ryo smirked. "Thank you, guildmaster." and with that, he led his team to the Scorched Flatland.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" asked Torterra after Team Pokesquad left and the guild members disbursed.

"I see big things coming from that team." said Sparky. "They'll pull this off. I know they will."

_Later, in the northwestern edge of the forest..._

Ryo looked carefully at the land ahead of him. As said in the name of the dungeon, it was very flat. But the ground was completely orange, with bright red and orange flames burning everywhere.

"Are you guys ready for this?" he asked, turning his head back to see his team.

With determined expressions, they all nodded in unison.

"Then let's go." he said.

The first floor wasn't much for them. Mud extinguished any flames that threatened to harm them, but Sceps was still off of his game as a result of the heat. Twice Iron had to bail him out in battle.

By the tenth floor, he was lagging behind so much that the others were starting to get seriously worried about him.

"Are you sure you can go on dude?" asked Mud.

"Yeah, I'm-" Sceps coughed "-ugh... fine."

"Hmm." murmured Ryo. "Listen Sceps, I want you hold to hold on to this Oran Berry." he said, handing Sceps the blue berry. "If you start to feel to weak, eat it."

"Alright, alright..." he said, followed by another cough.

The team pushed onward, repeatedly encountering Nidorinos, Growlithes, Magbies, Geodude, and even the occasional Flareon. Eventually though, they made it to the 18th floor.

"Keep a look out for Seedot." said Ryo. "We didn't find him anywhere else in the dungeon and he couldn't have gone far, so he's almost certainly here- there he is!" he shouted, spotting Seedot cowering in fear under a tree.

Team Pokesquad started to run towards Seedot. Seedot saw them and apparently recognized them as explorers, as he began to jump up and down in excitement of getting rescued and seeing his mother again. But then, something unexpected happened. Three black blurs fell from the sky and started to circle Seedot, frightening him. The black blurs then stopped and were revealed to be a Murkrow and two Honchkrows.

"Team Commando?!" shouted Ryo.

"That's right!" said Murkrow in a smug tone. "You Team Pokesquad bastards think you can do anything, don't you? Well just because the guildmaster thinks you can do this doesn't mean you will!"

"What are you talking about?" shouted Iron. "We've been doing fine until you guys showed up!"

"You think you're so great..." muttered Murkrow almost silently.

Murkrow then raised his right talons and clasped Seedots head with them, scaring him so much that he began to cry.

"What the hell are you doing?!" yelled Sceps before collapsing in another coughing fit.

Murkrow began to fly up, still carrying the crying Seedot in his talons.

"You jokers ain't getting credit for this mission." he said with a smirk. Let 'em burn, fellas!"

Murkrow took off as the two Honchkrows began to follow. But first, they spread their wings in midair...

"What're they doing?" said Sceps.

The two Big Boss pokemon smirked and chuckled as they flapped their wings with extreme force, using Wing Attack to send four pillars of spinning wind whirling towards Team Pokesquad. The four pokemon prepared themselves for a hit, but instead the Wing Attack cyclones just circled around them repeatedly.

"What the hell?" said Iron.

Team Pokesquad was confused as to why the attacks weren't hitting them. It's not like Team Commando needed a distraction to escape. Team Pokesquad couldn't reach them. But then Ryo grew wide-eyed as he looked at the ground beneath the attacks..

"WATCH OUT!" he screamed.

But it was too late. The attacks dissipated, and as soon as that happened, a raging ring of fire burst from where they were spinning, trapping Team Pokesquad.

"Put it out Mud!!!" screamed Ryo, who just barely dodged a blowing flame.

Mud complied, firing a Water Gun into flames. Team Pokesquad quickly dashed out of the ring of fire before it could reform. But suddenly, as they were running out, Sceps collapsed.

"Sceps!" yelled Ryo, looking back to see his friend about to get enveloped by flames.

At the last second though, Ryo jumped back. Despite the screaming from his teammates, he rushed back and grabbed Sceps' arm, throwing him out of the line of flames.

In Sceps' stead, Ryo was caught in the inferno.

Mud tried as fast as he could to put out the fire on Ryo and pull him out as Iron cut Sceps' Oran Berry in half, but Ryo was still severely injured.

Iron fed the Oran Berry halves to his two unconscious friends, praying for their lives.

_That night, at the guild..._

Iron and Mud burst into the guild carrying their comrades on their backs. As they entered they saw Team Commando, taking credit for their mission.

"You bastards!" screamed Iron. "You stole the credit for our mission and left us there for dead!"

"Oh come on." said the smug Murkrow, who broke from his conversation with Sparky to approach Team Pokesquad. "It wasn't that bad there."

"Oh yeah?!" barked Mud, furious. "Tell that to Ryo!" he then dumped Ryo's limp body in front of Murkrow. "He almost died because of you scum!"

"Hey, it's an every-pokemon-for-himself kind of world we live in." said Murkrow. "It's not my fault that your friend couldn't take the heat."

Mud and Iron started to be infuriated at the words of Murkrow, but then Iron felt Sceps fall off his back.

"You assholes..." growled Sceps, now conscious, getting on his feet. "He got burned because he was saving my life!"

"Oh, so the wittle gwass type couldn't take the enviowment?" said Murkrow in a mocking baby voice.

That comment made Sceps snap. Without warning, he grabbed Murkrow by the neck and slammed him against the wall, not letting go.

"Oh..." Murkrow muttered, coughing because of Sceps' tight grip on his neck. "Did I touch a nerve? Why don't you just go back to your mommy, Sceps? Oh, that's right, you can't! Hahahahaha-"

"YOU BASTARD!!!" screamed Sceps.

He then balled his free hand into a fist and thrust it towards Murkrow's face. But his fist never made contact with the Darkness pokemon's face. What happened to Sceps next, actually, was something he couldn't really recall. All that he could remember was feeling a wave of extreme pain as his hand let go of Murkrow's neck, and then slamming to the ground, his body covered with cuts and bruises, at least ten feet away from the wall he had Murkrow pinned against.

"Sceps!" yelled Mud as he and Iron rushed over to help him.

Murkrow was still against the wall, but he was sitting on the floor instead of being held in the air by his neck, which he now had is wing massaging. The two Honchkrows that he worked with were standing in front of him, and they left with him as he got up and walked off.

That night, neither Ryo or Sceps slept in their room in the guild.

They slept in hospital beds in the Intensive Care Unit.

* * *

Whew, long chapter! And exciting, too!


	11. The Plan

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 10:

_The Plan_

"You're late." said the mysterious pokemon.

"I'm sorry my lord." said his subordinate, bowing. "Please forgive me."

The mysterious pokemon grunted. "I will this one time only."

"Thank you my lord." said the subordinate.

"Now, Houndoom..." said the mysterious pokemon. "Shall we get down to business?"

"Yes." answered Houndoom. "What was the plan you wanted me to talk to you about?"

"Ah yes." said the pokemon. "As you are the keeper of the Darkness Orb, you know the keepers of the other two items, correct?"

"Yes my lord." answered Houndoom.

"Good." said the pokemon. "And I assume they trust you?"

"Yes my lord." repeated Houndoom.

"Then if you were to attack them, their guards would be let down at first, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then this is what you shall do." said the mysterious pokemon. "I want you to go to The Above and retrieve The Feather of Life. Then, go to The Over and retrieve The Pilot Light. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes sire." answered Houndoom.

"Excellent. I want the ritual completed in no less than six weeks. Do it by then and you will have the seat next to my grand throne as Ruler of the Universe. You shall be a god."

"That would be wonderful sire!" said Houndoom. "But you asked for me to retrieve The Feather of Life from The Above. Isn't it currently located on Gaia?"

"Yes..." answered the pokemon. "But it shall be returning very, very soon. Now begone, Houndoom. You must prepare for your mission."

* * *

Very very short chapter, but extremely important. Also, you're obviously wondering what Gaia is. It's the name (that I created) of the planet in the world of pokemon. Other names revealed in this chapter will be elaborated upon later in the story.


	12. Revelations

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 11:

_Revelations_

"Glad you guys are back." said Iron.

"I'm just surprised that we managed to heal in only one week." said Sceps, who was paying less attention towards talking to Iron and more towards unwrapping the bandages on his left hand.

"Well back when Dr. Meganium was an explorer, she was nicknamed 'The Goddess of Healing'." said Ryo, who was also focused on unwrapping bandages, although in his case, it was the bandages around his forehead.

"Anyways-" Sceps began "Ryo and I should be able to get back to missions by Monday."

"Sweet, only two days." said Mud, smirking at the news. "So were you guys given any medication to take home?"

"Yeah." answered Sceps. "Ryo has some pain killers and I have to take puffs from an inhaler every time I'm in an area of 110 degrees Fahrenheit or higher."

"I just think we're lucky to be alive after that." said Ryo.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from across the room of the guild.

"What the hell was that?!" yelled a startled Iron.

"THAT'S IT!" a voice shouted with extreme enthusiasm from the Administrative Quarters.

Team Pokesquad, along with a majority of the present members of the guild, all went to the source of the noise and knocked on the door.

Sparky opened the door. He had a wicked grin on his face and countless bags under his eyes. His fur was ruffled and mangy, and he smelled as if he hadn't bathed since Sceps and Ryo were hospitalized.

"Umm..." Golbat spoke up after what felt like hours of silence. "Guildmaster... what was with all the noise?"

"I finally figured out what Mantyke's gift is!" he said loudly and happily. Sceps couldn't help but notice the five empty pots of coffee in his office.

"What is it?" asked Gligar.

"It's a mythical item thought to just be a myth." Sparky began, suddenly losing his wild grin and replacing it with very a serious look. "It is called the Feather of Life. It is normally held in a sacred dimension known as The Above. The feather itself is one of three mythical items used to regulate balance in the world, this one balancing life itself. If it did not exist, neither would living beings."

The entire guild was in a silent awe, clinging to their guildmaster's every word. Who would've known that a present given to one of their teams by a child would have such extreme importance?

"Anyways," Sparky continued "The other two items are the Pilot Light, which is held in The Over, and the Darkness Orb, which is held in The Under. All three of these dimensions are accessible on Gaia by emergency means with the aid of three designated types of pokemon known as Passage Keepers, but only when the individual realizes it as their true calling. The only other requirement is that the Passage Keeper has the appropriate mythical item with them when they enter. They can take anybody who is in physical contact with them at the moment of entry with them, but they can only enter the dimension that their species and item is designated for."

"Wait, how did you figure out that this was the Feather of Life?" asked Ryo.

"Well, as you can recall, it only moved when blown on by northern winds. Because of this, I initially made the mistake of connecting this to Suicune. But that's not it. It only moves when blown on by the northern winds because The Above is located at the northernmost part of Gaia." explained Sparky.

"The Glacial Peak?" exclaimed Iron in surprise. "That frozen hellhole?"

"Yes." answered Sparky. "But the entry point is actually at the edge of the small sea around it, the Glacial Ring."

"Otherwise known as the Ring of Death, one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world." said Mud. "The climate there is insanely low, almost always less that 50 below."

"Exactly. But if the correct Passage Keeper is swimming there with the Feather of Life, the temperature around it for ten feet is 66 degrees, and nothing will even try to harm it. This sounded very peculiar at first, but the Feather of Life's magic keeps what's near it alive." explained Sparky. "Anyways, once in The Above, there is one being guarding The Feather of Life."

"Who?" asked Sceps.

"Ninetales. She guards the Feather of Life in The Above. Arcanine guards the Pilot Light in The Over, and Houndoom guards the Darkness Orb in The Under. The Pilot Light and Darkness Orb control all light, heat, darkness, and cold, respectively."

"So then why is the feather here?" asked Skiploom.

"Well, did you notice that the feather is completely clear?" asked Sparky. "It isn't supposed to be. When in a place where it should be, it is a full-time mirror of the northern lights."

"so..." Iron began. "You're telling us it needs to be taken back to The Above?"

"Yes." answered Sparky. "I'm not going to lie. This is going to be a very big - and dangerous – mission. The fate of life as we know it may rest on the outcome."

Suddenly, the entire guild went silent.

"I'll send a message to every guild in the Grand Ocean Island District about the current situation." Sparky said. "Until we can get attain the identity of The Above's Passage Keeper, try to continue on with your regular activities."

After a few seconds, the members of the guild disbursed, waiting for their comrades to return so they could learn the news. Sparky closed his door, followed by the immediate thud of him falling on the floor, unconscious.


	13. The Great Mystic

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 12:

_The Great Mystic_

"So when is he coming back?" asked Absol.

"Not for at least one more day." Lopunny answered.

Guildmaster Sparky, after waking up from 57 nonstop hours of sleep on his office floor, had decided to deliver his message about the Feather of Life personally. Therefore, he had gone on a ferry ride to Lapis Island to tell both the Lapis Council and the Guildmaster's Committee. So far, he had been gone eleven hours.

The entire guild was nonchalantly worrying. What if he couldn't convince anybody that this was the truth?

_Meanwhile, at the Lapis Council meeting room..._

"I'm telling you, it's the truth!" yelled an angry Sparky, slamming his fist on the table.

"Sparky," said a Golem sitting adjacent to him "just because you showed us a peculiar feather and told us it was an ancient artifact doesn't mean we'll think it's the truth. You were awake, what, five days straight?"

"It was seven, dammit!" Sparky blurted out. "And I even brought the book that proved it!" He then took a book from his bag and slammed it onto the table.

Gliscor, who was sitting across from Sparky, picked up the book, opened it up to where Sparky had put his bookmark, and examined the pages. He was shocked to find that all the information Sparky had told them was in there.

"Look," Gliscor began "just because it's in a dusty old book doesn't mean it's-"

Gliscor was cut off when the doors to the meeting room opened. In walked a rather tall figure, recognizable as a Lucario.

"Mr. President!" blurted them alarmed Gliscor. "What are you doing here?"

Lucario ignored him. "Sparky, hand me the feather and the book." he said.

"Yes sir!" said Sparky, taking the book from Gliscor and handing it, along with the Feather, to Lucario.

Lucario examined the two items for a minute or so before speaking again.

"Sparky is right about this." he said, setting the feather and the book down. "I will inform the Guildmaster's Committee at once."

"What?" yelled Gliscor.

"Meeting adjourned." said Lucario, ignoring Gliscor again.

Lucario left, as did most of the Council's members. Gliscor and Sparky were the last two people there when Gliscor turned his attention towards Sparky's face and saw the smirk he was given. After that, Sparky left.

_The next day..._

"So what are they going to do?" Sceps asked.

"Well," Sparky began "The guildmaster in Bronze Town has decided to send an ally of theirs to help us, the great mystic Claydol."

"So when will Claydol be here?" asked Vulpix.

"Well, he's all the way in Bronze Island, so likely three or four more hours." Sparky replied.

Suddenly, Gastly came upstairs and said: "Uh, sir? Claydol's here."

"Sure, disprove my estimation the second after I make it...: Sparky muttered inaudibly as he walked to the entrance.

Sparky followed Gastly downstairs to find Claydol floating in the doorway.

"Hello, Sparky." said Claydol. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well." Sparky answered. "Save my newfound inability to perceive time."

"Umm... Claydol? Sir?" Gastly said. "Why are you here?"

"Well, the President sent a message about your Feather of Life circumstance to every guild. Since some rookies in the Bronze Town Guild were friends with me and knew of my powers, they responded."

"Powers?" Gastly inquired.

"Yes." answered Claydol. "I am a renowned mystic on Bronze Island. If I touch something with an important future, chances are, I'll tell a prophecy about it. Some call me an Oracle. So Sparky, where is this Feather?"

"Ah, yes. It's right here." Sparky said, showing Claydol the Feather. "I'll round up the guild members and we'll see if you can give a prophecy. I'd want them to hear it."

_Later, on the 2nd floor..._

"Is everyone here? Alright, here's the Feather, Claydol." Sparky said, first to the crowd before him, then to the Clay Doll pokemon.

Claydol reached forward and touched the Feather. For a second nothing happened. But then, Claydol's eyes began to glow light blue. The Feather, glowing with the same light blue, began to float in the air. Claydol seemed to go insane, his body flailing about as he emitted a strange rattling noise.

Some members of the guild were getting scared. Even the Administrative Team was getting nervous. But suddenly, Claydol stopped moving and the rattling noise stopped.

"_Ze mun lata cod reonla maezi quairen xana. Lapara cod untor maezi bela kama rei lotoc netha. Curno cod jala kizime bolo rentaka cod bunrolo otsid. Manra tlitor wentroth cod nubora bolo xecore cod ruuntasa. Nef xoc lopontra... kodu ruuntasa lapinche oiora."_

Claydol stopped glowing, as did the Feather. Claydol fell on the ground, unconscious. The Feather descended and Sparky caught it.

The entire guild then burst into conversation.

"What the hell did he say?" Someone asked.

"Does anyone know what language he was speaking in?" Another pokemon asked.

"What happened just now? Why is he unconscious?" Said another voice.

Sceps looked around, confused.

"You guys didn't understand what he said?" Sceps asked.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent.

"What did you say? Do you mean you understood him?" Asked some guild members.

"Yeah, you didn't?" Sceps replied, his confusion growing.

"No." Everyone said in unison. "What did he say?"

"Go north into the land of unforgiving cold_._" Sceps began. "Enter the palace of dreams with the giver's mother. Defeat the frozen phoenix. You shall confront the guardian and return the balance."

The entire guild was silent once more, until Sparky finally spoke up.

"I see." he said. "Go north into the land of unforgiving cold obviously means we should go to the Glacial Ring. Enter the palace of dreams with the giver's mother... the palace of dreams must mean The Above. And the giver's mother must be the Passage Keeper. But who would the giver be?"

"I think it may refer to Mantyke." said Mud.

"Why Mantyke?" Mightyena inquired.

"Because he's the one who gave us the Feather." Mud replied. "And if the phrase is the giver's mother, and the giver's mother is the Passage Keeper..."

"Then the Passage Keeper is Mantyke's mom!" Iron blurted. "We have to get in contact with her right away!"

"Wait a minute." Drifblim yelled. "For all we know, the giver could be someone we've never met."

"Well for now, Mantyke is our best bet." Sparky said. "I'll have him and his mother here tomorrow."

_The next day..._

"Guildmaster, Mantyke and his mother are here." said Gastly.

"Ah, just in time." said Sparky.

"No, they're an hour and a half late..." Gastly corrected.

"Who cares? Just bring them in."

Mantine and Mantyke entered Sparky's office. Sparky couldn't help but notice that Mantyke looked a little worried.

"So what's this about a prophecy?" asked Mantine.

Sparky told her everything. Over the conversation, Mantyke's expression showed more and more worry.

"I see..." said Mantine. "Sweetie, can you please leave the room for a second?" she said, turning to her son.

"Okay." Mantyke said, quietly and fearful.

Mantyke shut the door, and Sparky slid the Feather across his desk. Mantine picked it up, set it on her forehead, and closed her eyes.

Suddenly, the Feather began to glow every color of the rainbow. Soon, Mantine's body did the same. The glow grew more intense, and Mantine opened her eyes. Her eyes were glowing the same as the Feather and her body. Soon the glow dissipated and the Feather fell back onto the desk.

"I realize my calling now." Mantine said. "I am the Passage Keeper of the Above."

"Good." said Sparky. "You can take me and my team there in five days."

"I'm sorry, but your team is not going." Mantine said "I choose those that go. And I choose Team Pokesquad."

"WHAT?" screamed Sparky. "But they're just children! They'll be killed!"

"You've seen them perform." Mantine replied calmly. "They have massive potential. Let them unlock it, and they'll do just fine."

"No! I will not endanger the lives of those in my guild! My team can breeze through this mission, and you want these children to go? No!"

"The fate of the world may hang in the balance and you're saying this? You don't get a say in this. I've made my decision and it cannot be changed."

"Fine." Sparky said angrily and reluctant. "But don't be surprised if they die when I work their asses off training in the next three days."

"Thank you for understanding. I'll be off now. Make sure you keep the Feather safe for those five days."

After that, Mantine took her son and left.

_That night..._

"What?" Ryo shouted.

"You're sending US on this suicide mission?" Iron yelled.

"Mantine said you had to go. There's no changing her decision." Sparky replied. "Which is why, throughout the next three days, you're going to train nonstop. You will be pushed to and beyond your limits time and time again. I will wake you up at 6:00 am tomorrow, so get enough sleep. See you tomorrow."

Sparky turned off the lights, closed the door, and left.

Nobody said anything. Team Pokesquad's members just went to sleep.

Except for Sceps.

The same two things just kept repeating in his mind.

There was a sentence he hadn't translated, as he knew it would scare the others. '_Nef xoc lopontra... kodu ruuntasa lapinche oiora'. _Translated, it was_ '_But be warned... for balance is fleeting'.

But what bugged him the most was this. '_Curno cod jala kizime bolo rentaka cod bunrolo otsid' _This didn't just mean 'Defeat the frozen phoenix. It meant 'Defeat the frozen phoenix and rescue the 2nd human.

* * *

Totally not a Percy Jackson ripoff. Good thing the next chapter will have more Team Pokesquad in it, it's been starting to feel like Sceps was really getting overshadowed by the thickening plot.


	14. Departure

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 13:

_Departure_

"Here's the Feather." said Infernape.

Five days had passed and Mantine had arrived at the guild.

"Thank you." she replied, picking up the Feather using her telepathic connection to it.

"Sparky will be here shortly with the boys. Please wait outside for him to come." Infernape said.

After a few minutes had passed, Sparky and Team Pokesquad had entered the guild. As soon as they were in sight, every pokemon on the 2nd floor turned their attention to the five.

After a few moments in silence, some of the guild members started whispering to each other.

"What do you think they did back in that forest?" whispered Cherrim.

"I don't know." Growlithe replied. "But I heard a ton of explosions in the first three days out of the five they in the forest."

"I tried going into the forest a few days ago to see what they were doing," Rhyperior whispered to Octillery "but even after I managed to make my way through the debris, wrecked terrain, and explosions, I couldn't get by this massive barricade the guildmaster set up."

Team Pokesquad was completely ignoring this whispering. They were walking behind Sparky with hard, stoic expressions on their faces. They each had dirt, scratches, and bruises scattered across their bodies, and they looked as if they had been training for ages. The four of them definitely looked older than they had just five days ago. They were all wearing tattered, very light brown capes tied around their necks, as well as their usual red bandanas.

Suddenly, the crowd was shoved away as Drifblim came crashing through, rushing towards Team Pokesquad.

"You rookie bastards don't deserve a mission like this!" He screamed, preparing to attack the team.

But his attack never came to fruition, as in the blink of an eye he was thrown across the room, unconscious. The whole guild looked at him in shock before turning to see Sceps' arm outstretched in Drifblim's direction, making it clear that it was he who attacked. And it was all the proof they needed to see Team Pokesquad's massive increase in power. After a few minutes of silence in which Drifblim was taken to recover in his room, Sparky spoke up.

"Alright, it's time we get going." He announced. "Mantine, I will be escorting you and Team Pokesquad to the beach where you will depart for the Glacial Ring." He turned to Team Pokesquad. "I've packed you with supplies that should help you immensely, including powerful healing items, orbs, and of course, food."

Sparky spoke with them a little more before they left, walking out one at a time. The guild went downstairs to watch them leave. None of them looked back upon leaving, except Sceps. Before walking out of the door, Sceps stopped and turned his head back to look at the eyes of his guildmates. He put a small smile on his face, raised his hand to his forehead, and saluted. He knew all too well that this simple salute could very well be the last they ever see of him.

_A few minutes later, at the beach..._

"Goodbye, guildmaster." Ryo said.

"Just make sure you each come back in one piece." Sparky replied. "I couldn't live with myself if you boys get seriously injured or killed out there."

Ryo was surprised to hear the guildmaster being so serious, but he just smirked and replied: "We promise."

Ryo and Sparky shook hands and saluted to each other. After that, he joined his teammates on Mantine's back. After looking back at the guild to see their colleagues waving goodbye, they took off.

Despite having the weight of four pokemon on her back, Mantine was swimming surprisingly fast. Sceps had never felt anything like it before. The air blasting in his face, accompanied by the salty sea spray. He felt energetic and alive.

"Hey, what did the guildmaster pack for us?" Mud asked.

"Let me check." Ryo replied. "Let's see... some berries, seeds, orbs, throwing items... Wait, what's this?" He said, pulling out an orb with a picture of a large arrow inside of it.

"It's an Escape Orb." Iron replied.

Ryo looked at the orb for a while. The guildmaster didn't want them to take chances with their lives. If they were in serious danger, he wanted them to use this to save themselves.

After much thought, Ryo threw the orb into the ocean behind him, assuring that victory was the only option.

* * *

Not the greatest chapter, but it's something.


	15. Approaching The Glacial Ring

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 14:

_Approaching The Glacial Ring_

"What's that up ahead?" Mud asked, pointing forward.

Iron squinted, looking past the sea spray to where Mud was pointing. He saw a shimmering transparent rainbow wall protruding from the water up ahead.

"It looks like the entrance to a Mystery Dungeon!" he exclaimed, turning to his teammates.

"A Mystery Dungeon in the middle of the sea?" Ryo said in disbelief. "I didn't even know that was possible!"

"It doesn't seem like we'll be able to go around it..." Mud said, inspecting the area. "Mantine, will you be alright if we have to go inside?"

"Yes," she replied "But depending on the pokemon there, you may have to protect me."

"Can do." Ryo said with a smirk, awaiting the things he might find exploring an oceanic Mystery Dungeon.

Mantine kept swimming, slowing down as she got closer to the Dungeon's border.

"Mud, as soon as we get in there, I want you to swim about ten feet from us and tell us the water temperature." said Ryo. "If it's too cold, we'll have to stick close to Mantine."

"Ugh, I really hate going in the water." Iron groaned.

"I love it." Mud said.

"Are we all ready?" Ryo asked.

"Yes." Everyone replied.

With that, Mantine swam through the wall and into the Mystery Dungeon.

_Meanwhile, at the guild..._

It had been a few hours since Team Pokesquad had left for the Glacial Ring and most of the guild members had gone on missions for the day. But two pokemon were still in their room.

Drifblim, who was getting rest after some time in the guild infirmary, was being kept company by his teammates. Umbreon had left some time ago to buy some food for them to eat while with Drifblim, leaving Drifblim and Mismagius alone.

"Damn that Team Pokesquad..." Drifblim said.

"This again?" said a distraught Mismagius.

"And damn that Team Commando, too." he said, ignoring her. "We got our asses handed to us, and yet they managed to hospitalize those rookies with ease."

Mismagius was worried. Drifblim was normally cocky and arrogant, but at least he was happy. But ever since Team Pokesquad came in, he started becoming grumpy and frustrated. Now he was almost constantly bitter and angry. Not only that, he was depressed. It wasn't like any other times that they got knocked out in a dungeon and had to retreat. This loss had damaged his pride.

Drifblim, tired of angry rambling, had noticed the sad look on his teammate's face, and it reminded him of something.

"Mismagius?" he said in a soft voice, startling her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I was wondering... During our fight against Team Pokesquad, they threw a bunch of attacks at me that would've taken me out, but you stepped in front of me and took the hit. Why?"

"Well..." Mismagius began, looking at the ground. "I didn't want you to get hurt. I care about your safety. And if something were to happen to you, I... I-"

Suddenly, the door opened and Umbreon came in, carrying a bag around his neck.

"Hi guys." he said. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No, nothing at all!" Mismagius said nervously, covering her face.

She didn't want Umbreon to see how red it was.

_Back at the Mystery Dungeon..._

"Frigid Sea." Ryo said.

"That's what you're naming the Dungeon?" Iron asked.

"Well, the sea is pretty warm, but in this dungeon it drops to 45 degrees Fahrenheit, so... yeah." he replied.

"Can I ride on Mantine's back? I really don't want to do this." Iron moaned.

"Don't worry, dude," Ryo said, "these types of dungeons seem to allow the pokemon in them to walk on the water."

"R-Really?" he said nervously. He began to climb down from Mantine's back, but he slipped and fell into the water with a huge splash.

"GUAAAH!" Iron screamed as he resurfaced and began flailing about in the water. "IT'S A FREAKING FOOT DEEP!"

"Would you rather there be no floor and start swimming?" Ryo asked, holding back laughter.

Continuing on, Team Pokesquad had to stay close to Mantine to stay warm, as well as protecting her. For the first few floors they ran into very few enemy pokemon, though that didn't keep Iron from complaining.

But around the 5th floor, things got complicated. The pokemon were tough before, but now they were in great numbers. Tentacool, Krabbies, Shellos, and even Poliwhirl where among these.

During a healing break on the 14th floor, Ryo began to get worried.

"Sceps..." he began. "Are you alright? You haven't said a word since yesterday."

Not a word. Sceps was still dwelling on the words of Claydol. The only other things he was focusing on were following his comrades through the Dungeon and fighting enemies.

'_2__nd__ human?_' he thought. '_Balance is fleeting? What does that mean?_'

Sceps' thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Ryo holding him up by the neck.

Ryo raised his fist and at the speed of a rocket, smashed it into Sceps' face at full force. As he did this, he let go of Sceps, causing him to fly backwards and crash into the water.

"Snap. Out. Of. It." Ryo said.

Sceps was in shock. He sat up in the water and brought a hand to his face, his eyes wide open.

Sceps got up and tried to punch Ryo in return, but Ryo merely caught his fist, pulled Sceps towards himself, and kneed him in the stomach. Sceps coughed and clutched his torso before falling face-first back into the water.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Mud yelled, jumping off of Mantine's back and running to Sceps' aid.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" Iron yelled before reluctantly following Mud – though instead of going to Sceps, he Tackled Ryo, pinning him down in the water.

Ryo began to move, so Iron let him go to keep him from drowning. Ryo got up, turned around, and ran towards Sceps. Mud tried to stop him, but Ryo got around him. He approached Sceps, arm behind him, preparing to shoot forward. Sceps closed his eyes and braced himself for another hit.

He opened them to find Ryo's arm outstretched towards him.

"Need help?" Ryo asked.

Sceps grabbed Ryo's hand and he helped him up.

"Sceps." Ryo said. "We're your friends. If something is wrong, anything at all, you can tell us."

Sceps smiled. "I will." he said. "I will. Now come on, we've got a Mystery Dungeon to complete."

And on the 20th floor, they did.

"FINALLY!" Iron yelled in relief.

"Um, Iron?" Mud said. "We're not done." He pointed ahead to show a secondary Mystery Dungeon.

"Wh-What?" Iron said, flabbergasted.

"Judging by all the ice blocks floating in the water, I think I'll call it Frozen Sea." Ryo said.

"WHAT? **WHAT?**" Iron screamed.

"Let's go!" Sceps said.

"**GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!**"

_Later..._

"Alright." said a panting Sceps. "We're about five floors in."

This Dungeon was trickier. They had to hop from ice platform to ice platform, but only the larger ones that could support their weights. Enemies included Spheals, Snorunts, Gastrodon, and Poliwhirl.

Sceps looked behind him to see the disgruntled Iron.

"Cheer up man. We're almost at the Glacial Ring."

"Look, there's the stairs!" Ryo said, gesturing ahead to the staircase.

Team Pokesquad's members all smiled (save Iron) and ran towards the staircase in hopes of reaching the end of the dungeon.

But out of nowhere a Poliwhirl sprang up, bursting through from underneath the ice. He immediately charged at Team Pokesquad, without any warning whatsoever. Ryo was preparing a Force Palm attack as he lunged towards the pokemon, but Poliwhirl turned around and smacked Ryo away. But Mud used this as an opportunity, hitting the enemy pokemon with a Tackle attack. But the Poliwhirl recovered immediately and swatted Mud away. The Poliwhirl was confident, but he didn't see his greatest foe coming for him.

And that foe is a very angry Aron.

Iron smashed into Poliwhirl with his Headbutt attack with all his strength, knocking him out instantly.

Team Pokesquad continued forward, finding that Frozen Sea only consisted of five floors. They continued to cross the ocean, now filled with small glaciers and ice chunks, on the back of Mantine.

"Guys?" Sceps spoke up.

"What?" Ryo replied.

"I was wondering... why where those Mystery Dungeons in the middle of the ocean? And why did they span almost all the way to the Glacial Ring?"

Ryo thought about this.

"I don't know..." he said, concerned. "I just don't know."

The Feather of Life began to glow.

It was time to enter The Above.


	16. The Above

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Legendary & Ancient Discoveries

Book I

Chapter 15:

_The Above_

"It's time." Ryo said.

Mantine complied. The Feather of Life was glowing brighter by the second, producing more colors than the sun setting over the ocean.

Mantine closed her eyes and began to pick up speed. The Feather continued to glow.

Faster, brighter.

Faster, brighter.

Faster, brighter.

Team Pokesquad was amazed. It was like traveling through a rainbow at a thousand miles per hour. Soon, Mantine was like a comet, shooting across the ocean at impossible speeds.

Almost to The Above...

"_Lodavros maezi Hilu, kuuljhorn gana ziphyn raky Maezi Ablane_!" Mantine shouted.

Suddenly, The glow disappeared. The massive amount of water upturned by Mantine's speed fell back down. Not a trace of Mantine, Team Pokesquad, or the Feather of Life remained.

At least, not in their dimension.

In a quick flash of light, they reappeared, Mantine now swimming slowly, the Feather no longer glowing. They had entered The Above.

Physically, it was nearly identical to where they just were. But there were some major changes. There was less ice – some floating ice blocks were large like in the Dungeon, but there were no glaciers. The ice that was there had a bluish tint to it. The sky was completely orange, as if in perpetual sunset. There were no clouds. The water was pink, and couldn't be seen through at all. It emanated life and purity. The only thing that seemed normal was the sun, which was setting over the horizon. This had nothing to do with the sky's color though, as the pink water couldn't reflect any light.

"We are here." Mantine said, looking at the Feather of Life to see it glowing the colors of the northern lights as it should. "We have reached The Above."

After taking in their surroundings in silence and awe, Iron was the first to speak up.

"HOLY CRAP!" He exclaimed in excitement. "We-We're in another freaking dimension!"

"Well I'll be damned..." Ryo said.

"Mantine..." Sceps began, "is all of The Above like this?

"Yes." She answered. "Save the ice, which only exists here. The Above is the same size as Gaia, but it's covered with ocean. There isn't even any ground. And the color of the water changes in different parts. Up at the northernmost part here it's pink, but going lower it would turn red, blue, green, orange, yellow, purple, and blue. The sky's color changes across the world, too. And there is no outer space. The sky goes on infinitely."

They swam considerably further without any form of disruption until something caught Sceps' eye.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing ahead.

"It looks like... a Mystery Dungeon?" Ryo said in surprise. "How could that even be possible?"

"It must be because the Feather of Life was taken away from here." Mantine answered. "These items aren't meant to be taken from their dimensions. Things like this happen when the balance of a dimension is thrown off."

"Well..." Mud began, "should we go through it?"

"Doesn't look like we have any other choice." Iron replied.

Once again, Mantine swam through the wall and into the Dungeon.

_Meanwhile, at Summer Island..._

Team Darkhound was in the middle of a mission in a Mystery Dungeon when Absol noticed Mightyena was looking down at the ground, distracted.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Yeah." he replied.

"Concerned about Team Pokesquad?"

"Yeah." Mightyena repeated.

"Me too..." Absol said. "They're just kids, and they got sent out on a mission like that. I don't know what's worse for them, the difficulty of the mission, or knowing the fact that the balance of the world rests on their success."

"I'm sure we couldn't handle something like that." Mightyena said.

"Me too," Absol replied, "and we've been an exploration team for two years. I can't imagine how hard it must be for those poor boys..."

"You're talking about them as if you were their mother." Mightyena said with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up." She replied. "Now come on, we've got some treasure to find."

_Back at The Above..._

"So what genius name do you have for this one?" Iron asked Ryo. "We've already cleared three floors, you've got to have slapped a title on this Dungeon by now."

"If you want a name, then shut up so I can think." Ryo retorted jokingly. "Hmm..." he began to mutter. "Enemies include Corsola, Wailmer, Luvdisc and Chinchou... Terrain is nearly identical to Frozen Sea but with different colors and fewer glaciers..."

"Come on already..." Iron mumbled.

"I've got it!" Ryo exclaimed. "Ocean of Dreams!"

"Wow." Iron said, widening and blinking his eyes. "That's actually kind of good."

"Damn straight." Ryo gloated. "Now let's get on with this."

Team Pokesquad advanced onward. Around the 6th floor, some things changed. Glaciers became more common and prominent, ice platforms had a thin coating of snow on them, the terrain generally became less smooth, and they began to encounter Delibirds. Soon, they found themselves surrounded on each side by a Delibird, a Wailmer, a Luvdisc, and a Chinchou.

"Why does this kind of thing always happen to us?" Iron remarked.

"I don't suppose you have a plan?" Mud retorted.

"I've got one." Ryo said. "Listen up."

After a few moments, Team Pokesquad nodded to each other and began.

Ryo jumped in the air, facing Delibird, and readied a Quick Attack. Before Delibird could retaliate, Sceps appeared behind her and smashed his foot between her shoulder blades, sending her into the air. Ryo then came down, hitting her in the stomach with his own Quick Attack. Delibird was knocked out.

Next was Chinchou. Mud began charging towards it, provoking it to attack. He prepared to stun Mud with his Thunder Wave. But Mud stopped dead in his tracks and, for a moment, drifted on the ice facing Chinchou. In doing this, he kicked some snow into Chinchou's eyes. With Chinchou momentarily blinded, Mud Tackled, following the attack with his new, TM-taught move, Water Pulse. While not doing much damage, it was enough to defeat the Angler pokemon.

Luvdisc would be the next to go down. She immediately noticed Iron rushing towards her. His head was lowered, indicating a Headbutt. To retaliate, she began a Take Down attack. But suddenly, Iron disappeared. Luvdisc was disoriented and shocked, wondering how a Steel/Rock pokemon could just disappear like that. This shock and disorientation was enough for her not to notice Iron and Sceps smashing into her from above. Luvdisc was unconscious before she could realize that Sceps had used Quick Attack to grab Iron, jump in the air, and throw him, all at a speed that could not be seen by the eyes of a normal pokemon.

Finally, it was time for Wailmer. Wailmer, after seeing how the other three pokemon had been taken down, was expecting a sneak attack. He began a Whirlpool attack, but instead of launching it at Team Pokesquad, he surrounded himself with it. He thought this would protect him on all sides. But there was one place he didn't take into account: below himself. Mud smashed through the ice below Wailmer and uppercut him with Tackle. The second the Whirlpool disappeared, Iron and Ryo slammed into him from both sides with their respective Headbutt and Quick Attack moves. Wailmer was finished.

Afterward, Team Pokesquad managed to go on with relatively little trouble. The only problem, aside from the occasional fights, were that the terrain became worse and worse as they went onward. Iron kept slipping and, to his dismay, fell in the water once as a result.

Finally, the dungeon ended after the 18th floor.

"Damn, that took forever..." Iron complained.

"Alright Iron, your crap stopped being funny a while ago." Ryo said.

"Guys, look." Sceps said, pointing at the Feather of Life. "The Feather... it's starting to glow again."

"Think it has anything to do with that?" Mud said, gesturing ahead.

In the distance, there was an island-sized block of ice. On top of it was a massive castle-like building made entirely out of ice.

"What the hell is that?" Iron asked.

"It's The Above Palace." Mantine answered. "It is the domain of Ninetales... and The Feather of Life."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Ryo said as he hopped onto Mantine's back. "We came here for a reason. To return the Feather. Now we can."

Once all of Team Pokesquad was on Mantine's back, she took off.

As the looming palace of ice slowly began to get closer, the members of Team Pokesquad each knew that, one way or another, their mission would soon end.

* * *

Ugh, I really didn't like this chapter. Too similar to the previous one. Oh well, at least there was plot development.

You know, I was originally just going to use the Author's Note for important things (such as stating what Gaia was) but I now might start using it for some more light-hearted things. After all, I am a huge Br33zy fan.

LaTeR dA-

Br33zy: DON'T SAY IT!

Wh-wha?

Br33zy: You are NOT going to steal my thing!

Wait a minute, WHAT? HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE? Wait, what is that Blazi-AH!

Br33zy: Good job, Flare.

Flare: No problem.

World... of... pain... *cough*

Br33zy: LaTeR dAyZ!

* * *

Note: I did get Br33zy's permission to put that up.


End file.
